By Isabela Espadas Barros Leal -
NBC News
An Oklahoma bill has sparked controversy in the state legislature for seeking to classify, in particular, Hispanics who may be gang members as terrorists.
The bill, authored by Republican state Rep. JJ Humphrey, proposes that anyone who "is of Hispanic descent and lives in the state of Oklahoma," is a member of a gang, and has been convicted of "related offenses" be considered a terrorist. with bands".
No other racial or ethnic group is singled out
in the legislation
.
Humphrey said the goal of the bill is to go after cartel members who bring fentanyl and other illicit drugs into the United States across the southern border.
Oklahoma Republican State Rep. Justin Humphrey during a debate at the Capitol in 2022. Nathan J. Fish/The Oklahoman/USA Today Network
"What I'm asking for in this bill is to protect our state, to protect the United States from what's happening, at the border," Humphrey told KFOR, an NBC affiliate in Oklahoma.
Humphrey has also said that "Chinese nationals" are contributing to the fentanyl crisis, but did not explicitly mention that group in the bill.
There were 3,547 unintentional drug overdose deaths in the state between 2017 and 2021, according to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
Fentanyl was implicated in 579 of those deaths.
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He has since apologized for targeting Hispanics and said he
plans to change the language in the bill
to say "undocumented illegals," according to KFOR.
But he insists that he was not wrong.
"I apologize for using the word Hispanic, but I was wrong. Again, they are Hispanic. The reality is, they are Hispanic. There is nothing to be ashamed of," said Humphrey, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
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State Sen. Michael Brooks, a Democrat and chair of the Latino Legislative Caucus, told KFOR that the bill is unlikely to pass.
"All groups have a constitutional right to due process and also a constitutional right to not be discriminated against or singled out," Brooks said.
"No one is in favor or I don't think there is any more appetite for
more divisive politics
. Personally, I think their constituents deserve better than this type of legislation."
Humphrey has proposed another controversial bill this legislative session that seeks to use animal control to expel furries
,
individuals who
play at being anthropomorphized animals
, from school activities.