Blunt Orders Troopers to Check Immigration Status

Governor Blunt has directed the Missouri Department of Public Safety (Highway Patrol, Water Patrol, and Capitol Police) to check the immigration status of every person they detain. Blunt cited a murder in New Jersey where an illegal immigrant, who was previously arrested for child rape and released on bond, was among those charged in the murder of three college students. The illegal immigrant was never reported to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit when arrested on the previous charges. Blunt stated that identifying the accused as an illegal immigrant when he was originally arrested could possibly have prevented the murders.

Blunt directed all law enforcement units in the Department of Public Safety to:

· Prepare for special training and deputization that allows state law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration law as authorized through section of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
·Encourage and assist local law enforcement to apply for immigration enforcement status and to otherwise offer state assistance, resources and support including making available Live Scan for local law enforcement agencies that will use it. To date, the state has invested more than $2 million of homeland security money in Live Scan, which allows fingerprints to be scanned in the field.
·Verify the immigration status of every individual presented for incarceration with ICE computer background status check and to complete full background checks on any accompanying adults. Anyone identified as illegal will be detained to prevent them from committing any crimes.”