Two days after President Donald Trump took office and began his immigration crackdown and mass deportations, lawmakers in Mississippi and Missouri have proposed bills to create a “bounty hunter program,” seeking to pay certified bounty hunters a $1000 reward for helping to find and deport illegal immigrants in America.
Matthew Barton, a District Attorney in DeSoto County, Mississippi, says he suggested the idea which was authored and introduced by state Representative Justin Keen (R). The proposed Mississippi bill looks to reward bounty hunters with $1,000 for their assistance in finding and deporting illegal immigrants.
Under the terms of the proposal, titled House Bill 1484, the state would create the “Mississippi Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program Fund.” As part of the program, registered bounty hunters — defined in the legislation as licensed “bail bond agents, general bail bond agents, and surety recovery agents” — would be rewarded with a $1,000 payment for each successful deportation they facilitate.
As part of the legislation, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety would process applications and conduct the hiring and certifying of these “bounty hunters,” who would already be affiliated with law enforcement. This agency is also in charge of “maintaining an information system that operates at all times,” including a hotline, email address, and online reporting portal. Additionally, the funding for the program would come from the Mississippi General Assembly.
The Washington Post reports that while referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an interview, Barton said, “Donald Trump, as he was leading up to his inauguration after his November victory, spent a lot of time speaking about his priority agenda, and immigration was top of the list, and so the idea came about from just trying, I guess, to provide support for that agenda on a local and state level because ICE only has so many people.”
The Post reports that it is unclear whether the proposed legislation has any chance of being passed, however, the proposal being introduced alone shows how President Trump’s tenacious focus on immigration at the federal level has influenced policymakers at the state and local levels of government.
The publication also notes that Mississippi is where some of the largest workplace raids for illegal immigrants occurred during President Donald Trump’s first term. In August 2019, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents raided chicken-processing plants across central Mississippi and arrested 680 people. The state, of nearly 3 million people, is also home to nearly 25,000 illegal immigrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Meanwhile, in Missouri, state Senator David Gregory filed a bill, Senate Bill 72, that would also give a $1,000 reward to bounty hunters for helping to find and deport illegal immigrants. According to the Missouri Independent, Gregory, a Republican from Chesterfield, proposes to certify bounty hunters, usually employed by bail bond businesses to catch absconders, to hunt down undocumented migrants using tips.
According to Gregory’s proposal, if a tip proves accurate, the suspect would be charged with “trespass by an illegal alien,” and would be subject to life in prison without parole if federal immigration authorities declined to take custody. Gregory told the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure, and Public Safety Committee, “This bill seeks to create an ICE program at the state level. That’s essentially all it does. This is an ICE program inside the state of Missouri.”
Gregory’s bill follows another bill filed by State Senator Jill Carter, a Joplin Republican, which looks to create new crimes based on immigration status. Undocumented individuals could be charged with “improper entry” and could be punished by a fine of up to $10,000 and removal to a U.S. port of entry for deportation. Another crime sought to be created is “aggravated illegal presence,” a felony that would apply to undocumented people who violated any other Missouri law. The penalty would be increased if the violation was a felony law.
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