Missouri Governor Blunt Announces New Directives to Fight Illegal Immigration

Blunt: "We cannot wait for Washington to stop unlawful immigration"

August 27, 2007 -- JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Governor Matt Blunt today said he is not waiting for Washington to enforce federal immigration law as he outlined tough new initiatives to enforce the laws against illegal immigration.

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Blunt highlighted a tragic murder in Newark where an illegal immigrant, who was previously arrested for child rape and released on bail, was among those charged in the murder of three promising young college students. Identifying the murderer as an illegal immigrant when he was originally arrested could possibly have prevented the murders.

“We cannot be complacent about illegal immigration, and we cannot wait for Washington to stop unlawful immigration,” Blunt said. “We must be proactive to protect Missourians from harm and help prevent what happened in New Jersey from happening in Missouri. We will make every effort, implement every tool, and take every step to ensure the laws against illegal immigration are enforced.”

To prevent a similar tragedy in Missouri, Blunt today directed all law enforcement units in the Department of Public Safety (Water Patrol, Highway Patrol and Capitol Police) to:

· Prepare for special 287(g) training and deputization that allows state law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration law as authorized through section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

· Encourage and assist local law enforcement to apply for 287(g) status and to otherwise offer state assistance, resources and support including making available Live Scan for local law enforcement agencies that will use it. To date, the state has invested more than $2 million of homeland security money in Live Scan, which allows fingerprints to be scanned in the field.

· Verify the immigration status of every individual presented for incarceration with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) computer background status check and to complete full background checks on any accompanying adults. Anyone identified as illegal will be detained to prevent them from committing any crimes.

Today’s announcement is part of a tough new strategy Blunt designed to fight illegal immigration and activity in Missouri.

Blunt is a strong advocate for protecting Missouri from illegal activity. He recently sent a letter to the Missouri Housing Development Commission outlining principles for the commission to consider regarding illegal immigration that include possible sanctions of up to a lifetime ban of contractors and developers who knowingly employs illegal immigrants in violation of federal law.

The letter follows the governor’s tough stand against illegal immigration and workers. Earlier this year Gov. Blunt ousted a state contractor who hired illegal workers and ordered state agencies to enact a no tolerance policy through tough new contract protections. The governor cancelled the state’s contract with Sam’s Janitorial Services and barred them from doing further business with the state after local and federal law enforcement agencies identified dozens of suspected illegal immigrants working under falsified documents.

Blunt also authored the state’s first directive to audit all contractors to ensure that the contract employees are legally eligible to work in the U.S. and to terminate contracts if it is determined a contractor employs illegal immigrants. He added tough provisions in state contracts to allow the state to immediately cancel contracts if it determines the contractor knowingly has employees not eligible to work in the U.S. and to require contractors to certify that all their employees meet state and federal employment eligibility requirements.

Source: Missouri Governor