“If you’re here legally or legally, you should have special respect for the laws of the state of Ohio and to our country,” Williams said in his sponsor testimony.
“If you are going to come here, under our good will of allowing you to come to this great nation and participate in our society, if you violate the laws that are clearly written, we’re going to punish you harshly or we’re going to give you substantial bail conditions to make sure you come to court so you can stand justice. Because, if you were not present in this country, that crime would not have occurred,” he said.
H.B. 282 would direct judges to consider a person’s immigration status in determining sentencing, probation and bail. Today, judges have the individual discretion — but not a mandate — to consider immigration status if they deem it to be relevant.
“Our courts are split: Some of our courts will consider immigration status and some of our courts refuse to do so,” Williams told the committee during sponsor testimony. “I think there should be clarification from the legislature on which side of the aisle we want judges to fall.”
Williams said H.B. 282 wouldn’t prescribe how a person’s immigration status should impact a judge’s decisions on sentencing or bail, but he noted that someone breaking federal immigration laws and then committing a criminal offense in the state would amount to “a pattern of lawless behavior and disregard for our justice system.”
”The individual has already violated federal law and committed an offense in our community. That should be a factor that should be considered in sentencing. I don’t tell the court how harshly to consider that factor, how much weight to give that factor, but I think that’s a factor that should be considered," Williams said.
Williams faced pushback from Democratic members of the committee, including Rep. Ismail Mohamed, D-Columbus, who said he had “a lot of concerns” with the proposal.
Mohamed questioned whether H.B. 282 could be enacted by the state, if passed, given that the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over immigration enforcement.
Mohamed further expressed concern that, by requiring all judges to consider immigration status, illegal immigrants in Ohio will be handed harsher sentences than legal residents for the same crime, which he described as a violation of the equal protection clause embedded in the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment.
Williams questioned the wisdom of sentencing an illegal immigrant to community service, for example, if that person might be forced to leave the country before their community service sentence is completed.
“I think it is a very relevant factor if an individual is here illegally. There is an increased risk of them fleeing the jurisdiction because this is not their country of origin, or they may be swept up in federal immigration enforcement and won’t be able to stand trial. I think that’s a fact that should be considered,” Williams said.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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