Oklahoma Senate votes in favor of anti-immigration bill, sending it to Governor’s desk

OKLAHOMA CITY (KSWO) - The Oklahoma Senate passed House Bill 4156 on April 23, officially sending it to Governor Kevin Stitt’s desk for his signature or veto.

Oklahoma Speaker of the House Charles McCall and Oklahoma Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat jointly authored the bill and introduced it April 15. It seeks to create a new criminal law: impermissible occupation. The law would make it illegal for anyone who does not have legal authorization to enter the United States to come into Oklahoma.

The first offense would be a misdemeanor and carry a jail time no longer than a year and fines up to $500. A second offense would be a felony and carry a jail time up to two years and a fine up to $1,000.

In both cases, the individual charged would have 72 hours to leave the state after punishment is complete.

The measure passed by way of a 39 to 8 vote in the senatorial chamber. Every Southwest-based state senator voted in favor of the bill.

The House bill passed the House April 18, by way of a 77 to 20 vote, with four state representatives being marked as excused.

Every Southwest-based state representative voted in favor of the measure, except for Reps. Trey Caldwell and Daniel Pae who were listed as excused.

During House debate, the Oklahoma House Democrats came out strongly against the measure. However, Attorney General Gentner Drummond praised the passage of the bill from both chambers.

In response to the Senate side passing the bill, Drummond said the chamber showed public safety is important in the sooner state.

“The State Senate sent a clear message today that public safety is a priority in Oklahoma,” Drummond said. “The Biden Administration has been utterly derelict in its duty to enforce federal law. If the president won’t secure the nation’s border, then our state must step in to protect Oklahomans. I appreciate President Pro Tempore Treat and Speaker McCall for their swift work on this bill and I encourage Gov. Stitt to sign it into law.”

One Republican and One Democrat state senator released statements after the vote.

Republican Sen. Jessica Garvin (R-Duncan) says this bill will help keep the state safe.

“Immigration is top of mind for many Oklahomans as we see an unprecedented number of illegal immigrants crossing our nation’s Southern border, bringing illicit drugs and criminal activity that pose a threat to our public safety,” Garvin said. “My grandparents legally immigrated to the United States from Mexico and went through the naturalization process to become citizens. Their journey is emblematic of the appropriate pathway to citizenship, and the majority of legal immigrants want others to come here through the proper channels as well.”

On the opposite aisle, Democratic Sen. Michael Brooks (D-OKC) says he attempted to make the piece of legislation better through an amendment, but no agreement was met to add them into the bill.

“I attempted to offer language that would have given us the opportunity to address this issue in a meaningful, bipartisan way, empowering the state of Oklahoma to succeed where the federal government has failed to address key issues,” Brooks said. “We could have provided the framework to give a state ID or driver license to those individuals who comply with specific requirements, including paying state and federal income tax, verifying their identity with the state, registering their address, and submitting a fingerprint to the largest law enforcement database in the nation. These are real solutions that would move our state forward in terms of both our economy and in addressing public safety concerns.”

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt is expected to sign the bill.