Wyoming Kills Anti-Immigrant Law

A bill in the Wyoming legislature that would have mimicked Arizona’s sb1070 had died a neglected death. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Pete Illoway, R-Cheyenne, went before a committee where none of the members moved to vote on it.

Apparently the proposed law was met with the sounds of political crickets. A report noted:

Illoway’s bill would have authorized police to arrest people without a warrant if they committed offenses that made them eligible for deportation. The state needed to act because the federal government hasn’t done enough to address illegal immigration, he said.

But there were no takers. Illoway, though, remains undaunted. He says his intent was to call attention to the problem.

“What I heard today was finally, is there is a problem here in Wyoming, and it needs to be addressed,” Illoway said. “No, this bill is probably not where we wanted to go. But it’s a first step because people finally say, ‘Oh, there is a problem. Let’s go ahead and work on this thing.'”