Arizona has made the news lately with their new law requiring state law enforcement to investigate the possibility that an individual who has been stopped for some lawful reason is also violating federal immigration laws.

But, what about Texas? Article 2.25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure says:

A judge shall report to the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service [now, renamed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)] a person who has been convicted in the judge's court of a crime or has been placed on deferred adjudication for a felony and is an illegal alien as defined by Section 493.015(a), Government Code.

Is your judge doing this? Judge Gist, are you out there? You've been a judge for awhile. Is this happening? What do you think about it?

In case you are wondering, here is the Government Code definition of illegal criminal alien:

Sec. 493.015. IDENTIFICATION OF DEPORTABLE ALIENS. (a) In this section, "illegal criminal alien" means an alien who has been convicted of a felony and is in the custody of the state and who:
(1) entered the United States without inspection or at any time or any place other than as designated by the United States Attorney General;
(2) was admitted as a nonimmigrant and, before the date of the commission of the crime, had failed to maintain the nonimmigrant status under which the alien was admitted or to which it was changed under Section 248, Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1258), or to comply with the conditions of the alien's status; or
(3) is a Marielito Cuban as defined in Section 501, Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (8 U.S.C. Section 1365).

[This message was edited by JB on 06-12-10 at .]

Pretty much the only inquiry regarding immigration status in our courts is the standard guilty plea question "are you a citizen?" I am not aware of any instance where any of our judges have actually made a report to INS / ICE.

I have been wondering, since the Arizona law has become such a hot topic, what - really - is the difference between what the Arizona law requires and what the Texas law requires? Other than, obviously, the fact that in Texas the inquiry is made much later in the process. However, it appears that many of the attacks being made on the Arizona law could made against the Texas law as well (though I really don't find the arguments I have heard so far attacking the constitutionality of the Arizona law very persuasive). I would not be surprised to learn that many states have a requirement similar to the Texas law regarding reporting to INS / ICE. Any really, what is wrong with that?