Missouri House Speaker Jon Patterson said Thursday he sees no appetite in his chamber for a Senate bill that would place bounties on people in the country without legal status.
That means that the bill, Senate Bill 72, is unlikely to pass the House.
On Monday, a Senate committee spent hours hearing testimony against SB 72 and another bill that would impose harsh penalties for immigration violations.
SB 72 would include life imprisonment without parole as a punishment, and would allow Missourians to collect $1,000 bounties for reporting people who are in the country without legal status.
Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, said he doesn’t expect to see similar legislation on the House side.
“House Republicans are committed to making sure that we have legal immigration, but that we don’t tolerate illegal immigration, “ Patterson said. “I have not heard any enthusiasm from our members about doing any sort of bounty on that. I don’t think that’s something that you’re going to see on this side.”
Patterson added that immigration is already being addressed at the federal level, mentioning the Laken Riley Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law Wednesday.
House Democrats are also opposed to the measure.
Rep. Bridget Walsh Moore, D-St. Louis, called the bill a step toward fascism, saying it would endanger refugees in her district.
“Any talk of, you know, rounding up and getting your papers, especially during the same week as Holocaust Remembrance, is incredibly disrespectful and honestly should terrify anyone who calls themself a patriot,” Walsh Moore said.
SB 72 has not been voted on in committee.
The River City Journalism Fund supports St. Louis Public Radio's Statehouse internship. Evy Lewis is the 2025 reporting intern. See rcjf.org for more information about the fund, which seeks to advance journalism in St. Louis.
