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Missouri House speaker sees little interest in immigration bounty bill

Missouri House Speaker Jon Patterson, R-Lee鈥檚 Summit, speaks to the media while flanked by Majority Leader Rep. Alex Riley, R-Springfield, and Speaker Pro Tem Chad Perkins, R-Bowling Green, during the first day of the Missouri legislative session on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Jefferson City.
Brian Munoz
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漏 2024 外网天堂
Missouri House Speaker Jon Patterson, R-Lee鈥檚 Summit, speaks to the media earlier this month.

Lee este reporte en Espa帽ol.

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, , 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鈥檚 Summit, said he doesn鈥檛 expect to see similar legislation on the House side.

鈥淗ouse Republicans are committed to making sure that we have legal immigration, but that we don鈥檛 tolerate illegal immigration, 鈥� Patterson said. 鈥淚 have not heard any enthusiasm from our members about doing any sort of bounty on that. I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 something that you鈥檙e going to see on this side.鈥�

Patterson added that immigration is already being addressed at the federal level, mentioning the , 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.

鈥淎ny 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,鈥� Walsh Moore said.

SB 72 has not been voted on in committee.

The River City Journalism Fund supports 漏 2024 外网天堂's Statehouse internship. Evy Lewis is the 2025 reporting intern. See for more information about the fund, which seeks to advance journalism in St. Louis.

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Evy Lewis is 漏 2024 外网天堂's 2025 Missouri Statehouse reporting intern. The internship is supported by the River City Journalism Fund, which seeks to advance journalism in St. Louis. For more information, see