(NewsNation) — A Missouri state lawmaker says his proposal to have bounty hunters track down undocumented immigrants includes guardrails.
Under Republican Sen. David Gregory’s bill, state authorities would create a program to certify bounty hunters “for the purpose of finding and detaining illegal aliens” in Missouri. Gregory said only migrants for whom arrest warrants have been issued would be targeted by the state system.
“It’s not allowing anyone to determine for themselves who to investigate. It’s not allowing any bounty hunters to kick in doors and demand papers — that’s not what this is,” Gregory, said Saturday during an appearance on “NewsNation Prime.”
He said his plan would effectively be a state version of what U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is doing under the Trump administration — going after criminal migrants who pose a threat to local communities.
The ACLU of Missouri has promised legal challenges and a former top official with U.S. ICE under President Joe Biden called Gregory’s proposal “absurd.”
“It puts the communities at risk,” he said Saturday. “It will build fear into the system. It’ll create these blurred lines between actual law enforcement work by state and locals, by the cities, by the federal government, and blend it with untrained individuals going into homes or doing arrests.”
The Missouri bill also would create a telephone hotline and other reporting methods for people to alert authorities about illegal aliens. Informants would be eligible to receive rewards of $1,000.