People packed a committee room and overflow room at the Alabama State House today for a public hearing on bills that lawmakers said were intended to crack down on illegal immigration.

Those who spoke during the hearing opposed the bills and said they were in conflict with Biblical principles to help strangers and foreigners.

But the Senate County and Municipal Government Committee approved the bills after the public hearing, with two Democrats on the panel voting against them.

The committee approval puts the bills in line for consideration by the Senate.

Republican leaders in the Legislature say illegal immigration is a priority for the session that started Tuesday, and today marked the first discussion for the proposals.

They say they want state policies that complement the initiatives of President Trump, who has promised mass deportations.

One of the bills that was approved, SB53, makes it a crime if a person “Conceals, harbors, or shields from detection an illegal alien if he or she knows or reasonably should have known that the other individual is an illegal alien.”

The bill would also make it a crime if a person “Transports, attempts to transport, or conspires to transport an illegal alien in this state in furtherance of the illegal alien’s unlawful presence in the United States if he or she knows or reasonably should have known that the other individual is an illegal alien.”

Amanda Cherry of Birmingham, a member of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, said her husband is a Mexican immigrant who navigated a complex legal process to get his green card.

“Many undocumented people don’t have the same opportunities or legal pathways leaving them even more vulnerable,” Cherry said. “This bill makes it more likely for folks to be racially profiled based on their appearance or how they sound.

“As a person of faith, I feel disheartened when people who claim to follow Jesus and quote scripture – Jesus was a refugee – I feel disheartened when people turn around and try to pass laws that treat immigrants as disposable.”

SB53 would also establish a state law against human smuggling.

It says a person commits the crime of human smuggling if he or she knowingly transports into this state another individual if he or she knows or reasonably should have known that the other individual is an illegal alien.

Jerome Dees, policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, spoke in opposition to the bill.

“If you are a classroom teacher in the Auburn, Opelika, Phenix City area and you go across state lines to Columbus or LaGrange and there are a handful of undocumented students who are in that class, you would technically be in violation of human smuggling and guilt of a Class C felony,” Dees said.

Dees said sections of the bill were similar to a sweeping immigration law Alabama passed in 2011 known as HB56. Federal courts blocked most of that law.

SB53 is sponsored by Sen. Wes Kitchens, R-Arab, and has four Republican co-sponsors, as well as one Democratic co-sponsor, Sen. Rodger Smitherman of Birmingham.

The bill includes guidelines for how police and sheriffs should determine whether an individual arrested and booked in jail is an illegal alien.

Kitchens said the premise of the bill is to help law enforcement.

Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, who voted against the bill, said it would discourage acts of kindness like those of the Good Samaritan in the New Testament.

“Do you help, or do you just shun the person and act like you don’t see them at all?” Coleman-Madison said. “Maybe of these people are hard-working people that are just trying to feed their families and survive.”

Another bill, SB77, would impose a fee of $7.50 on outgoing international wire transfers of cash, plus an additional amount 1.5% of the transfer amount excess of $500.

The money would go to a newly created Sheriffs’ Immigration Enforcement and Detainer Fund to help offset costs and expenses of enforcing federal and state immigration laws and housing of individuals who violate immigration laws.

The sponsor, Sen. April Weaver, R-Brierfield, is one of a group of Alabama lawmakers who visited the U.S. border with Mexico to learn more about illegal immigration.

Weaver said the purpose of the bill is to capture tax revenue from people working for cash who are not paying state income taxes and are wiring the money to family members or others in other countries.

Weaver said those who file state income taxes can get a credit for the amount of the transfer fees they pay.

Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, who voted against the bill and the other immigration bills, said it was wrong to charge the fees.

Hatcher said the people making the money transfers are already paying taxes.

“This amounts to theft. Why are we taking this money?” Hatcher said.

After the public hearing, Hatcher said he believes the immigration bills would put Alabama on a slippery slope that could lead to disregard for minorities.

“I do not believe legislation is intended to be harmful,” Hatcher said. “But I hope you’re hearing that it absolutely will be.”

Marcos Narvaez, who immigrated to America from Argentina in 1996, attended Wednesday’s hearing.

Narvaez said he came to the country on a work visa and has since become a permanent legal resident. He said he owns a small construction company. He said he gets money out of the bank to transfer to his sister in Argentina.

He said it doesn’t make sense for him to pay a new tax on that money.

Narvaez said the bill to prohibit transporting an illegal alien causes him concern because he believes in helping people in need of a ride.

“When they talk about the good Samaritans, I do that many times,” Narvaez said.

“Especially on those hot days in Alabama, on those raining days. If I see somebody that is walking on the street, I pick them up and given them a ride. I don’t ask him if he has documents or not.

“Makes no sense. Especially, it’s a religious state. It’s a state with a lot of churches, a lot of good people. A lot who helps people. So why put a law like that? I don’t understand that. But hopefully it don’t pass.”

Narvaez said people in Alabama have always made him feel welcomed.

“But I don’t think it’s, right that kind of law.,” Narvaez said. “Because I also saw people being treated bad because of how they look. And like they say, this a state with a history of discrimination. And we need to stop that.”