Committee hears sharply divided testimony on bill to require cooperation with federal immigration enforcement; amendment to narrow violent-crime definition wins

Members of the House Operations Committee heard competing testimony March 12 on House File 16, a bill that would change state data-practices and law-enforcement reporting rules to facilitate information sharing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The committee approved a narrow A1 amendment that limits the change to section 3 of the bill's language on violent crimes, then laid the bill over.

The author explained the amendment would replace a cross-reference that defined "crime of violence" with a different statutory cross-reference that the author said better captures the statute's intent. After nonpartisan staff confirmed the amendment applies only to section 3, the committee adopted the A1 amendment by majority vote. The committee did not complete final action on the underlying bill and laid it over for further consideration.

Supporters described the bill as restoring interagency information sharing that aids public safety. David Zimmer, public-safety policy fellow at the Center of the American Experiment and a retired law-enforcement captain, said cooperation with federal partners such as ICE is appropriate and often necessary. "It is completely appropriate for law enforcement to collect as much…