OKC immigration attorneys flooded with questions about controversial bill
The newly signed law allows local law enforcement to imprison and then remove undocumented immigrants in Oklahoma
The newly signed law allows local law enforcement to imprison and then remove undocumented immigrants in Oklahoma
The newly signed law allows local law enforcement to imprison and then remove undocumented immigrants in Oklahoma
Some Oklahoma City immigration attorneys say they have been flooded with questions ever since Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a controversial immigration bill into law.
The newly signed law allows local law enforcement to imprison and then remove undocumented immigrants in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City police Chief Wade Gourley said he's not even sure how a law like House Bill 4156 is enforceable, and lawyers who specialize in immigration law agree.
"We would like to know what it means. And I mean that seriously. When you read the language of the law, it leaves a lot of confusion," said Melissa Lujan, an immigration attorney in Oklahoma City.
Lujan's clients are not only confused but also angry about the passage of House Bill 4156.
"I had one client emphatically say, 'If this law passes, we are packing our things up, and we are going. We are not living like second-class citizens,'" Lujan said.
Many of her clients, currently in the process of becoming citizens, are concerned for their safety.
"We are in this process of immigration that takes many, many, many years. Immigration knows we are here," Lujan said. "But what is the state of Oklahoma going to do to us while we are waiting to try and legalize our status?"
She also expressed concern that the law might discourage undocumented immigrants from calling 911.
"If I am undocumented right now, am I going to be able to call the police? Because if I call the police, are they going to arrest me for being guilty of a crime?" Lujan asked.
Gourley shares these concerns.
"We struggle right now getting people that are in those communities that might be undocumented to report crimes, and they're heavily victimized because criminals know that," Gourley said.
He also expressed worry that the law could lead to racial profiling.
"We're all very concerned about it. How we're going to enforce this? The demand it's going to put on our personnel. How do you do it without racially profiling? Especially the way the law is written," Gourley said.
Mark Nelson, the president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police, however, believes that officers will handle the situation professionally.
"I think our officers are professional enough that they will not lead to that. Our officers will go out and act according to their training, just like they do every single day – professionally," Nelson said.
The law is set to go into effect on July 1. Lujan is advising her clients to wait before making any major decisions in anticipation of legal challenges to the new law.
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