Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Border Security topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate Rules committee adopts amendment then tables bill to create governor’s 'border security' office
Summary
Senate Bill 257, proposing a temporary office of border security in the governor’s office, had an amendment adopted to remove language about constructing a fence, but the committee voted to table the bill after debate over executive coordination, constitutional preemption and scope.
Senate Bill 257, which would create a four-year office of border security within the governor’s office, was debated in the Senate Rules Committee. The sponsor described the office as an integration and information function to coordinate federal, state and local responses to border issues, not an enforcement agency.
Sponsor Senator Thornton proposed an amendment that struck language describing funds "for the construction of a fence at the border" and replaced it with wording to "secure the border between" New Mexico and Mexico; the amendment was adopted to clarify the bill is not funding a border wall. "I didn't want the committee to think that...this was going to build a border wall. This is not the intent," the sponsor said when moving the amendment.
Committee members asked whether the governor had been consulted; several senators, including Senator Stewart, said the governor should be engaged on a proposal that would create an office in the executive branch and argued the bill would be better advanced if it had coordination with the governor’s office.
Fiscal and legal concerns were also raised. The Department of Public Safety’s fiscal-impact notes, discussed by a senator, cautioned that parts of the bill could raise constitutional questions because immigration enforcement is a federal authority under the Supremacy Clause; the sponsor reiterated the bill is intended as an information and integration office and not an enforcement unit.
Other senators questioned operational details, including whether the office could be directed by the federal government under joint powers agreements, whether it would have authority to deploy National Guard assets, and how it would be funded. The sponsor said the governor can already deploy the National Guard and that the bill would provide a coordination role and a hotline function for humanitarian and logistical needs.
After debate and questions, Senator Stefanik moved to table the bill. The roll call to table passed with five votes in favor and three opposed; the bill was tabled in committee and will not advance at this hearing.
