The House of Representatives is has a bill pending which would compel state and local police forces, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security, to enforce immigration laws. CLEAR, as the bill is known would provide additional funding for policing illegal immigrants.

A bill currently pending in the House of Representatives called the Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal act (CLEAR) would compel state and local police forces to enforce immigration laws.

The bill would require state and local police to establish policies for working with the federal government on immigration cases. The police would report information such as the detainee's name, physical description or photos, fingerprints, and reason for the arrest to the Department of Homeland Security.

Supporters of the CLEAR act argue that federal immigration agents are stretched too far, and the addition of 650,000 officers would provide key support in handling illegal aliens. Conservatives feel the act is an absolute necessity if the Bush administration carries out a plan to allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country as long as they are working.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said his support for Bush's proposed "guest workers" bill would depend on the success of the CLEAR act.

"If they don't have this in it, they'll pass that bill over my cold, dead political body," Sessions said.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., is the sponsor of the House bill, and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, is the co-sponsor.

"Sending 2,000 federal agents into the field to find 80,000 criminal aliens is like trying to stop a tidal wave with hand towels," Norwood said in a recent statement.

Norwood's statement points to the fact that the current whereabouts of almost 80,000 illegal aliens who were ordered deported after criminal convictions are unknown.

CLEAR act supporters also point to cases like that of a serial rapist in the New Brunswick, NJ area who slipped through current holes in immigration enforcement. In spite of a prior deportation order and a judge's specific instructions that he be turned over to federal immigration authorities, illegal alien Ricardo Cepates was never detained or deported although he was in police custody on two occasions.

Instead, two years after being placed on probation for weapons charges, Cepates allegedly sexually assaulted at least six women in the New Brunswick area.

"Why a flag didn't go up in 1998 when [Cepates] had two prior arrests and shouldn't have been in the country, I don't know," New Brunswick Police Director Joe Catanese told the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

Opponents of the CLEAR act argue the bill would deter immigrants from reporting crimes to police for fear of their own deportation. Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza agrees.

"Making police officers immigration agents is a terrible idea," said Munoz. "If the victim of domestic violence feels she can't be calling police because they might be asking for papers, that's bad for public safety."

Opponents also argue that the bill would burden many local police departments who are already short on resources. However, the bill does authorize the attorney general to administer $1 billion yearly in grants to state and local agencies to cover the costs of handling immigration law violations.

This funding would be in addition to the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which currently provides grants for policing illegal immigrants who have committed other crimes. Agencies that did not comply with the CLEAR act would be ineligible to receive funds under this program.

City of Poughkeepsie police Chief Ron Knapp voiced another concern related to the burden on local enforcement.

"I think the bigger issue is going to be who is going to have custody of the person," Knapp told the Poughkeepsie Journal. "One of the things that stood in the way of deportation is that there is no room to house the people who are taken into custody. Unless this act addresses the problems that existed all along, then the CLEAR act isn't too clear right now."

The CLEAR act will likely be examined at a later date, alongside Bush's proposed immigration plan in a Senate panel headed by Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.