Bounty Hunters and Life Sentences in the Land of the Free

By: Natalie Kamra and Dawn-Eve Mertz

Legislation has been proposed in both Missouri and Mississippi to offer rewards for turning in undocumented migrants and immigrants to the authorities. Advocates warn that such bills will racially profile immigrant communities. If passed, these types of legislation could be suggested by other states.

Migrant vs Undocumented Immigrant

It’s important to understand there are different types of immigration into the U.S. and that migrants and undocumented immigrants are not the same thing.

Migrant is a term most used for people who leave their home country temporarily in search of employment or education in a different country. Most migrants in the state work in the fields of agriculture such as planting, harvesting and processing crops. Another industry that hires migrants to work is food processing plants like meat and poultry.

An undocumented immigrant is defined in the United States as someone born in another country who doesn’t have a valid visa or other immigration documentation required to enter the country legally.

Missouri

Newly elected Republican State Senator David Gregory proposed a measure that would offer $1,000 to any person who give the authorities information which leads to the arrest of an immigrant without legal status.

SB 72 would allow the state’s Department of Public Safety to “develop an information system for people to report violations of this act which shall include a toll-free telephone hotline, e-mail and online reporting portal.”

The bill would create the “Missouri Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program” which would allow local citizens to serve as bounty hunters “for the purpose of finding and detaining illegal aliens” in the state.

The proposed bill also seeks place “illegal aliens” in prison for life, largely without eligibility of probation or parole, for the offense of trespassing as an “illegal alien who knowingly enters this state and remains here and is physically present” when a bounty hunter or authority arrives.

It would also bar undocumented migrants from receiving benefits, a driver’s license, or becoming a legal resident of Missouri. It would also make it a felony for anyone to be in the state as an illegal migrant. However, the bill does not address the employers of the migrants and if they will face any repercussions.

Mississippi

Republican State Representative Justin Keen, proposed House Bill 1484 which seeks to offer registered bounty hunters $1,000 for each successful deportation they help facilitate. Keen said, “President Trump’s administration has made it clear that deporting illegal immigrants is a priority, and we are proud to do our part here in Mississippi to help support his agenda and protect our citizens.”

Some have criticized that the danger of HB 1484 is that immigrants will be wrongfully targeted, even if they are a legal migrant or asylum seeker.

Trump has been focusing on immigration since taking office, signing executive orders including deeming migration an “invasion” and declaring a national emergency at the southern border while ramping up to send 10,000 troops, suspending refugee admissions and shutting off access to those seeking asylum.

They also reinstated the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which is a policy that sends asylum seekers back to the country they are fleeing from during the asylum process, instead of allowing them to remain in the U.S. This policy puts asylum seekers at risk in a vulnerable position by sending them back to the country where their life is in danger. In just two years from January 2019 to 2021, the first Trump administration sent over 71,000 asylum seekers back to Mexico.

An asylum seeker is somebody who has left their country because of persecution, violence, or danger to their lives, and seeks protection in another country. When they arrive, they apply for asylum, which is an international protection for people who cannot go home. Seeking asylum is a human right.

Is History Repeating Itself?

Critics have pointed out that these policies are reminiscent of Nazi policies and old U.S. “slave catching” policies.

The Nazi regime offered a bounty for citizens to turn in targeted groups like Jews, Roma, homosexuals, members of the resistance or anybody who dissented. They offered reward money and special privileges for those who gave information which led to the successful capture of people the Nazis were after. Informants could receive extra food or clothing rations, protection, or avoid punishment for themselves if they turned over other people to the Nazis.

In the U.S., there were laws regarding the capture of slaves and bounties for turning them in. States like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia actively enforced the laws to capture escaped slaves. Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, Texas, Maryland and Missouri offered bounties to assist the southern slave states. Slave patrols, an early form of policing dating back to the 1700s, were used to capture runaway slaves.

The Fugitive Slave Act, first passed in 1793 and again in 1850, was a federal law requiring all states to cooperate in capturing and returning escaped slaves. Slavery was abolished in 1865, but then southern states began passing laws that prosecuted black folk at a higher rate. Incarcerated individuals were used for forced labor and sent to work on the plantations without legal protections. People call it “slavery by another name.”

Today, prison inmates in the U.S. typically work while incarcerated for little to no pay, which is legal under the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; slavery is prohibited, except as a punishment for a crime.

Americans are concerned about the implications of imposing a bounty to turn people in, and of imprisoning people for life for being undocumented.