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Prosecutors seek wider tools to fight human smuggling through parks; civil-rights groups urge limits
Summary
Prosecutors told the Committee on Criminal Justice that expanding criminal penalties to cover parks and natural areas would help curb human smuggling and reduce deaths; civil-rights groups warned the language lacks an intent element and could criminalize innocent conduct in public spaces.
Prosecutors and local law-enforcement officials urged the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice to expand existing anti-smuggling law to include parks, natural areas and cultural-resource sites, saying criminal organizations use those locations to move people across the state and that tougher penalties would protect both migrants and residents.
Fayette County District Attorney John Hubert said large parks and remote public lands have been used by transnational criminal organizations to move people, sometimes leaving them in dangerous conditions. "Every tool y'all give us helps us chip away…
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