SF0166 • 2023

Border wall and sanctuary city transport.

AN ACT relating to the administration of government; providing legislative findings; providing an appropriation for the purpose of constructing a border wall along the southwest land border as specified; providing an appropriation to aid other states in transporting non-citizens of the United States to sanctuary cities located in other states; and providing for an effective date.

Budget

Did Not Pass

The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.

Sponsor: Senator Hicks
Last action: 2023-02-06
Official status: inactive
Effective date: 3/1/2023

Plain English Breakdown

The bill was significantly amended to reduce the appropriation amounts, but it did not pass.

Act to Build Border Wall and Transport Non-Citizens

The bill aims to appropriate funds for building parts of a permanent border wall along the southwest land border between Texas and Arizona with Mexico, and for transporting non-citizens from these states to sanctuary cities in other states.

What This Bill Does

Appropriates $1.00 from Wyoming's legislative stabilization reserve account to help build parts of a permanent border wall along the southwest land border between Texas and Mexico.
Allows up to $1.00 for transporting non-citizens from Texas to sanctuary cities in other states.
Appropriates $1.00 to aid Arizona in building parts of a permanent border wall along its section of the southwest land border with Mexico.
Permits up to $1.00 for transporting non-citizens from Arizona to sanctuary cities in other states.
Allocates $250,000 to help Florida transport non-citizens to sanctuary cities located in other states.

Who It Names or Affects

The state of Wyoming and its governor
The states of Texas, Arizona, and Florida

Terms To Know

Sanctuary city: A city that limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Legislative findings: Statements explaining the reasons for a bill's creation, often including facts and statistics.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill did not pass in its current form.
Details about how funds will be used are limited to what is specified in the bill text.
The effectiveness of such measures in reducing illegal immigration or drug trafficking is uncertain.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

SF0166SW001

Committee of the Whole • Senator Gierau

Failed

Plain English: The amendment changes several monetary amounts in the bill to one dollar.

Changes 'three million dollars' to 'one dollar'.
Replaces multiple instances of '$250,000.00' with 'one dollar ($1.00)'.
Modifies 'two million dollars' to 'one dollar ($1.00)'.

The amendment does not specify the reasons or impacts of changing large sums to one dollar.

SF0166SW002

Committee of the Whole • Senator Hicks

Adopted

Plain English: The amendment modifies specific sections of the bill to add sub-sections detailing additional funding for border security resources, including personnel and equipment.

Adds new subsection (a) before existing text on page 5, line 4, specifying that funds are allocated for border wall construction and transportation costs.
Inserts new subsections (i), (ii), and (iii) to detail the types of resources and contracts authorized by the state for border security needs.
Modifies appropriations language throughout the bill to clarify that funding is provided under specific sections of the act.

The amendment text does not provide details on how much additional funding will be allocated or what specific personnel, equipment, and resources are included in the new subsections.

SF0166SW003

Committee of the Whole • Senator Hicks

Adopted

Plain English: The amendment removes a previous committee's changes and adds new provisions for training law enforcement officers to handle drug cartels, human trafficking, and illegal immigration.

Removes the Gierau committee of the whole amendment (SF0166SW001/A) entirely.
Adds language to train local law enforcement in Wyoming on identifying criminal activities related to increased illegal immigration.
Adjusts funding amounts for various appropriations.

The exact impact and details of the removed Gierau committee amendment are not provided, making it hard to explain fully what was deleted.

Bill History

2023-02-06 Senate
S COW:Failed 12-18-1-0-0
2023-01-26 Senate
S Placed on General File
2023-01-26 Senate
S02 - Appropriations:Recommend Do Pass 3-2-0-0-0
2023-01-24 Senate
S Introduced and Referred to S02 - Appropriations
2023-01-24 Senate
S Received for Introduction
2023-01-24 LSO
Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

23LSO-0451
2023
STATE OF WYOMING
23LSO-0451
Numbered
2.0

SENATE FILE NO. SF0166

Border wall and sanctuary city transport.

Sponsored by: Senator(s) Hicks, Kinskey, Kolb and Steinmetz and Representative(s) Bear, Burkhart, Jennings and Oakley

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to the administration of government; providing legislative findings; providing an appropriation for the purpose of constructing a border wall along the southwest land border as specified; providing an appropriation to aid other states in transporting non-citizens of the United States to sanctuary cities located in other states; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

(a)

The legislature finds that:

(i)

On July 10, 1890, the United States Congress enacted the Act of Admission that admitted Wyoming as the forty-fourth state in the United States of America;

(ii)

The southwest land border is the border between the United States and Mexico that includes the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas;

(iii)

There were two million three hundred seventy-eight thousand nine hundred forty-four (2,378,944) encounters at the southwest land border in fiscal year 2022 by the United States Border Patrol and the Office of Field Operations. These encounters included apprehensions and expulsions;

(iv)

The amount of encounters at the southwest land border in fiscal year 2022 reflected an eleven and one-half percent (11.5%) increase from fiscal year 2021;

(v)

The encounters at the southwest land border in fiscal year 2022 included migrants from the countries of Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela;

(vi)

The United States Border Patrol encountered ninety-eight (98) non-citizens of the United States and the Office of Field Operations encountered sixty-seven (67) non-citizens of the United States who had records with the Terrorist Screening Dataset also known as the terrorist watchlist on the southwest land border in fiscal year 2022;

(vii)

The United States Border Patrol encountered a total of twelve thousand twenty-eight (12,028) non-citizens of the United States with criminal convictions in all apprehensions in fiscal year 2022 including apprehensions at the southwest land border;

(viii)

The Office of Field Operations encountered a total of sixteen thousand nine hundred ninety-three (16,993) non-citizens of the United States with criminal convictions in all apprehensions in fiscal year 2022 including apprehensions at the southwest land border;

(ix)

The United States Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations seized a total of six hundred fifty-five thousand seven hundred eighty (655,780) pounds of drugs in fiscal year 2022. The drug fentanyl accounted for fourteen thousand six hundred ninety-nine (14,699) pounds of the total pounds of drugs seized;

(x)

The Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation reported that law enforcement seized a total of seventeen thousand three hundred twenty-four (17,324) grams of fentanyl in 2021;

(xi)

Five hundred six (506) migrants crossing or attempting to cross the southwest land border were reported dead or missing in 2022;

(xii)

The illegal immigration of non-citizens of the United States at the southwest land border negatively impacts the state of Wyoming's economy and places a burden on Wyoming law enforcement agencies;

(xiii)

Construction of a permanent border along the southwest land border between the United States and Mexico constitutes a public purpose and provides substantial benefits to the health and welfare of citizens of the state of Wyoming.

Section 2.

There is appropriated three million dollars ($3,000,000.00) from the legislative stabilization reserve account to the office of the governor for purposes of allowing the governor to enter into a contract with the state of Texas for the construction or partial construction of a permanent border wall along the southwest land border between Texas and Mexico and for the transportation of non-citizens of the United States from Texas to sanctuary cities in other states. The contract shall provide that the state of Texas may use not more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00) of this appropriation to transport non-citizens of the United States from Texas to sanctuary cities in other states. The contract shall require the state of Texas to submit an accounting outlining legitimate and reasonable expenditures made for the construction of the permanent border wall along the southwest land border and the expenditures for transporting non-citizens of the United States from Texas to sanctuary cities in other states. This appropriation shall be for the period beginning with the effective date of this act and ending on June 30, 2026. This appropriation shall not be transferred or expended for any other purpose and any unexpended, unobligated funds remaining from this appropriation shall revert as provided by law on June 30, 2026. To the extent funds are not expended or obligated by July 1, 2024 the office of the governor may expend the funds for the purposes enumerated in sections 3 and 4 of this act.

Section 3.

There is appropriated two million dollars ($2,000,000.00) from the legislative stabilization reserve account to the office of the governor for purposes of allowing the governor to enter into a contract with the state of Arizona for the construction or partial construction of a permanent border wall along the southwest land border between Arizona and Mexico and for the transportation of non-citizens of the United States from Arizona to sanctuary cities in other states. The contract shall provide that the state of Arizona may use not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00) of this appropriation to transport non-citizens of the United States from Arizona to sanctuary cities in other states. The contract shall require the state of Arizona to submit an accounting outlining legitimate and reasonable expenditures made for the construction of the permanent border wall along the southwest land border and the expenditures for transporting non-citizens of the United States from Arizona to sanctuary cities in other states. This appropriation shall be for the period beginning with the effective date of this act and ending on June 30, 2026. This appropriation shall not be transferred or expended for any other purpose and any unexpended, unobligated funds remaining from this appropriation shall revert as provided by law on June 30, 2026. To the extent funds are not expended or obligated by July 1, 2024 the office of the governor may expend the funds for the purposes enumerated in sections 2 and 4 of this act.

Section 4.

There is appropriated two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00) from the legislative stabilization reserve account to the office of the governor

for purposes of allowing the governor to enter into a contract with the state of Florida for the transportation of non-citizens of the United States from Florida to sanctuary cities in other states. The contract shall require the state of Florida to submit an accounting outlining legitimate and reasonable expenditures made for transporting non-citizens of the United States from Florida to sanctuary cities in other states. This appropriation shall be for the period beginning with the effective date of this act and ending on June 30, 2026. This appropriation shall not be transferred or expended for any other purpose and any unexpended, unobligated funds remaining from this appropriation shall revert as provided by law on June 30, 2026. To the extent funds are not expended or obligated by July 1, 2024 the office of the governor may expend the funds for the purposes enumerated in sections 2 and 3 of this act.

Section 5
.

This act is effective July 1, 2023
.

(END)

1
SF0166