Mark Jones, chair of political science at Rice University, is available for news media interviews on Riddle's proposal.

"While the proposed bill is more limited in scope than the Arizona law, Rep. Riddle is still sending a political message similar to that of Arizona Republicans -- that the current immigration system is broken and that the government needs to be more proactive in deporting undocumented immigrants," Jones said.

"Even though the bill places greater constraints on police action than the Arizona law, it still would likely result in racial profiling as well as involve the state in the area of immigration policy, and as a result would also be challenged in court if it were to pass.

"Like the 2009 session when a similar bill was presented by Rep. Riddle, this bill will never make it out of committee during the 2011 legislative session because the Republican party leadership in the House and Senate will neither want to disrupt other legislative business nor further damage the party's support among Latino voters by allowing the bill to be debated and voted upon."

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