“Ignoring the obvious constitutional problem of having a state tell the federal government what it can do, this bill makes it clear that Democrats not only want illegal immigrants voting, Democrats think they’re already voting and want them to continue,” Kilgore said.
The longtime lawmaker cited the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which declares federal statutes the “supreme law of the land” and maintains precedence over conflicting state laws that attempt to usurp federal authority.
In that regard, 8 U.S.C. § 1226 says an “alien may be arrested and detained pending a decision on whether the alien is to be removed from the United States,” while Section 287(a) — of which the oft-cited subsection 287(g) is a part — permits agents to “interrogate, without warrant, any alien or person believed to be an alien concerning his or her right to be, or to remain in the United States.”
Those two sections would run directly counter to Lopez’s bill.
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“Virginia Democrats just gave away the game on illegal alien voting,” the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus said in response to the new bill.
“Now why would Democrats be concerned about illegal aliens being arrested near polling locations?”