On Tuesday, the Governor of Oklahoma signed a bill into law giving the state greater authority to enforce border security by making it a crime at the state level for illegal aliens to reside in Oklahoma.
As the Daily Caller reports, Governor Kevin Stitt (R-Okla.) signed House Bill 4156 into law after the Republican-controlled state legislature passed it last week. The new law will take effect on July 1st.
Anyone who is found to be residing in Oklahoma without legal authorization to be in the United States will be charged with a misdemeanor for their first offense, with a sentence of up to one year in jail or a $500 fine. Those found committing their second offense will be charged with a felony, facing two years in jail and a fine of $1,000. In addition, any violators will be ordered to leave the state of Oklahoma in 72 hours or less after being released from custody.
In a statement released after the signing of the bill, Governor Stitt declared that the measure was passed in response to Joe Biden’s inaction on the southern border, with his administration’s open-borders policy leading to a mass migration crisis the likes of which the United States has never seen before.
“We cannot sit idle as threats to our safety are on the rise due to the Biden administration’s complete failure to offer even minimal protections. We have an obligation to keep our communities safe,” Stitt’s statement read. “And this bill will de-incentivize thugs from choosing Oklahoma as a place to operate criminal enterprises after having illegally come to our country through the southern border.”
Oklahoma is the latest Republican-led state to pass such a law making it a state crime to be an illegal alien. Neighboring Texas was the first state to do so, giving state authorities the ability to arrest and deport illegal aliens. Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) has also used state resources to construct makeshift border barriers along the southern border, ranging from stacks of metal shipping containers and barbed wire to buoy barriers lining the Rio Grande River. The Texas law is currently facing legal challenges from Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ), which argues that the law is in violation of the federal government’s sole authority over immigration matters.
Other states that have passed similar legislation include Florida and Tennessee. In addition, 14 states have deployed National Guard troops to the southern border to aid Texas’ efforts to secure it. Those 14 states are: Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Is there some way those state legislatures can include Democrats in the deportation orders? Let’s make registration and voting for Democrats illegal.