Missouri House approves citizenship check for sexual offenders

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Intro:	A bill requiring law enforcement to check the citizenship of sexual offenders gained first-round approval in the Missouri House Wednesday.
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Wrap: Under the bill, law enforcement agents will report illegal immigrants who appear on the sexual offenders list to the federal government.

The bill's sponsor Republican Representative Mark Parkinson says illegal immigrants who have committed sexual offenses should be deported at the earliest possible time.

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Description: "I don't want a single illegal alien in the United States, or in the state of Missouri, that has been convicted of a sexual offense to fall through the cracks."

Opponents say this bill is unnecessary because it is something Missouri law enforcement already does.

The bill requires another vote in the House before it's passed to the Senate.

From the State Capitol, I'm Kadee Brosseau.

Intro:	The federal government would receive reports from Missouri's Highway patrol regarding illegal immigrants who are listed as sexual offenders.
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Wrap: The House gave first-round approval to a bill requiring law enforcement agents to check citizenship status for sexual offenders.

The bill's sponsor, Republican Representative Mark Parkinson says he wants to ensure that illegal immigrants do not get away with committing sexual crimes.

However, Democratic Representative Mike Colona says the bill is unnecessary.

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Description: "Nobody wants convicted child molesters, pedifiles to kind of be lost in the system. But, Mr. Speaker, that's not happening right now. Mr. Speaker, law enforcement's doing very good job of keeping track of this as it is."

The bill requires another vote in the house before going before the Senate.

From the State Capitol, I'm Kadee Brosseau.

Intro:	House members gave first round approval to a bill that would require illegal immigrants listed on the sexual offender's list to be reported to the federal government.
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Wrap: Republican Representatives who spoke on the floor say illegal immigrants who commit sexual crimes should not be tolerated.

Under a bill sponsored by Republican Representative Mark Parkinson, the Highway Patrol is to monitor the sexual offenders registry for illegal immigrants.

Many Democrats oppose this bill because they say it's redundant.

Democratic Representative Jean Peters-Baker, a former prosecutor, said local law enforcement agencies already do this.

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Description: "This process is already in place. If you are convicted of a sexual offense and you are an illegal, you're going to get deported. I mean, that is just the process."

The House will vote on the bill one more time before it can be passed to the Senate.

From the State Capitol, I'm Kadee Brosseau.