Texas rep: Dump immigrants at congressional offices

A Tea Partyer proposes that police physically deposit illegal immigrants at the offices of members of Congress

Published February 24, 2011 5:30PM (EST)

Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham
Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham

Last week we bought you a roundup of the most outlandish bills introduced in state legislatures around the country by Tea Party-friendly legislators.

Well, here's another to add to that list (and stay tuned, we'll be updating it periodically): Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, a member of the Tea Party Caucus in the Texas House, has introduced a bill that seeks to use illegal immigrants -- as in, their physical bodies -- to score political points.

From the bill, which was reported on by Think Progress:

A law enforcement agency that has custody of an illegal immigrant to whom this article applies may:

(1) release or discharge the illegal immigrant at the office of a United States senator or United States representative during that office's normal business hours; and

(2) request an agent or employee of the United States senator or United States representative to sign a document acknowledging the release or discharge of the illegal immigrant at the senator ’s or representative ’s office.

Kolkhorst, who represents a rural district in central Texas, told a friendly local Op-Ed columnist, "I want us to take these illegal immigrants in custody to a congressman's office and say, 'We don't know what to do with these people. Do you?'"


By Justin Elliott

Justin Elliott is a reporter for ProPublica. You can follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin

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