The Missouri Senate gave first-round approval to a bill dealing with illegal aliens.
Andrea Ramey explains how the national debate over illegal aliens played out in the Senate Chamber.
Republican Senator Bill Alter is sponsoring a bill that would, among other things, train the Highway Patrol to enforce immigration laws.
Senator Joan Bray, a Democrat from St. Louis County, argued against the bill, saying it did not get to the root problem of illegal immigration.
Bray added that it also provoked local law enforcement to deport illegal aliens, which is not in their jurisdiction.
Reporting from the state Captiol, Andrea Ramey KMOX News.
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Senator Joan Bray, a Democrat from St. Louis County, argued against the bill, saying it would give local law agencies training to enforce federal immigration laws.
The bill's sponsor, Republican Senator Bill Alter, added that five of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were illegal aliens and had encounters with local law enforcement.
Alter said they could've been deported if local law enforcement had been trained properly.
Reporting from the state Capitol, Andrea Ramey KMOX News.