Minnesota Governor Pawlenty Proposes Crackdown On Illegals

Waving a fake passport and forged identity cards, Governor Tim Pawlenty outlined a raft of proposals Tuesday to identify and crack down on illegal immigration in Minnesota.Governor of Minnesota, Tim PawlentyThe Republican Governor wants a team of state agents to enforce federal immigration laws, and he would also like to make it a crime to possess a fake ID. His plan would stop cities from passing sanctuary ordinances that prohibit police from asking about a person's immigration status. Before hopping on a plane to tout the plan in Rochester, Mankato, Worthington, St. Cloud and Moorhead, Pawlenty went on the defensive. He said he hopes his proposals won't be met with immediate charges that he's trying to inflame racist or anti-immigrant sentiments in an election year. "You'd have to be really living under a rock not to see this as a real issue," Pawlenty said at a Capitol news conference. "I've been talking about these issues since 2002." Pawlenty also repeated several times that he wants to support and encourage legal immigration, and promised more on that front in the coming weeks.

The proposals include:

-The Minnesota Illegal Immigration Enforcement Team would consist of 10 state agents who would focus on illegal immigrants who violate laws against human trafficking, identity theft, methamphetamine dealing and terrorism. The officers would get special training and the authority to enforce national immigration laws, if federal approval and legislative funding came through.

-Possessing fake identification isn't against the law in Minnesota unless the person intends to commit a crime with the fake documents. That would change under Pawlenty's proposal, which would punish false ID possession with up to a year in jail. Creating or obtaining false ID documents or using multiple identities would carry stiffer penalties.

-Minneapolis and St. Paul currently ban their police from enforcing immigration laws in most cases. Pawlenty would like to prevent cities from passing such sanctuary ordinances, saying it ties the hands of law enforcement.

-Hiring illegal immigrants already carries federal fines. Pawlenty would like to tack another $5,000 in state fines onto that offense if it's done knowingly.

-Those who traffic humans would face tougher penalties when the victims are underage. The governor would also create a task force on human trafficking.

-Local law officers would be required to collect more information on the citizenship and immigration status of those they arrest and pass that data along to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.