OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Republican-led states are rushing to give broader immigration enforcement powers to local police and impose criminal penalties for those living in the country illegally as the issue of migrants crossing the U.S. border remains central to the 2024 elections.
The Oklahoma Legislature this week fast-tracked a bill to the governor that creates the new crime of “impermissible occupation,” which imposes penalties of as much as two years in prison for being in the state illegally.
Oklahoma is among several GOP-led states jockeying to push deeper into immigration enforcement as both Republicans and Democrats seize on the issue. That was illustrated in February when President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both visited the U.S.-Mexico border the same day and tussled from a distance over blame for the nation’s broken immigration system and how to fix it.
Yokohama reaches Asian Champions League final by beating Ulsan in penalty shootout 5
Speaker Johnson to meet with Trump, offers Marjorie Taylor Greene advisory role as own job teeters
Robert MacNeil, creator of PBS 'NewsHour, dead at 93
Air Rwanda: Which airline will deport migrants on a one
Don Donoher, the winningest basketball coach at Dayton, dies at 92
Biden could miss the deadline for the November ballot in Alabama
Conservatives compelled by Trump are pushing Nebraska to adopt a winner
With lawsuits in rearview mirror, Disney World government gets back to being boring
Jalen Green has 26 points and Houston cruises to 116
Blinken begins key China visit as tensions rise over new US foreign aid bill
'HELP' sign on beach points Navy and Coast Guard aviators to men stuck on Pacific atoll