House lawmakers on Thursday approved a measure along partisan lines that would create a new felony for being in the country illegally, despite critics calling it “un-American” and saying it would create unnecessary fear.
House Bill 1362 would allow an individual to be arrested and charged with a new felony punishable by five years in prison if they are apprehended for a violation of Oklahoma’s criminal law and are determined to be an undocumented immigrant. But in lieu of imprisonment, they could agree to be returned to their country of origin by federal immigration enforcement if they have no other felony charges or previous convictions for a violent offense.
“America was built by immigrants coming in, but legally,” said Rep. David Hardin, R-Stilwell, the bill’s author. “And everybody is welcome into this country as long as they’re legal, that’s the end of the story. So all this bill does is it gives us a mechanism to align with the Trump administration.”
The effort would repeal a controversial law signed by the governor in 2024, House Bill 4156, that created the crime of “impermissible occupation” and is in limbo following court challenges.
Hardin’s legislation comes as immigration and the push for mass deportations remain a priority of Oklahoma’s Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration.
The bill, which passed along party lines, leaves determining a person’s immigration status up to the “discretion” of law enforcement, Hardin repeatedly said, but the officer must be “sure” and “without a doubt” when detaining someone for being undocumented.
In response to questions about how this bill could lead to racial profiling, Hardin said that is not the intent of his legislation and that law enforcement goes through training to prevent this.
Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Operation Guardian in November to deport undocumented immigrants held in Oklahoma’s correctional facilities and recently said the deportation of these 525 incarcerated people will be weighed against the severity of the crime committed and the amount of the sentence served.
The Republican governor also signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to grant three state law enforcement agencies the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. This agreement gives specially trained officers from each agency the power to interrogate people over immigration status, serve and execute arrest warrants for immigration violations.
Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, D-Oklahoma City, called the bill “un-Oklahoman and un-American.” He said being in the U.S. illegally is a civil violation, so escalating the penalty to a felony with a minimum cost of $35,000 to bond out of jail is a “big jump.”
“I wish that the United States had an immigration system that actually works, but the reality is that that’s not the case right now. Our immigration system is broken,” he said. “… But the bill itself is just flawed in so many different ways. It’s unconstitutional, and each one of us swore an oath to the Constitution.”
Alonso-Sandoval said undocumented immigrants pay $227 million in taxes to Oklahoma alone and work essential jobs.
Other critics of the bill questioned if it would hold up in court since the earlier measure is on hold by the courts. Another lawmaker asked why the Legislature would align with a presidential administration, rather than laws passed by Congress.
Resources for enforcing the bill also came into question as Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said funding and staff for law enforcement is already strained.
Hardin said while he hadn’t discussed this bill with any law enforcement officials, this is not a mandate. Each department can choose whether to enforce it.
The bill passed with a 73-16 vote after moving through the House Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight Committee on March 3. It is eligible to be heard in the Senate.
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