Alabama's Secretary of State Wes Allen speaks during the inauguration ceremony on the steps of the Alabama State Capital Monday, Jan. 16, 2023 in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill, File)

Last month, Alabama state Sen. Donnie Chesteen (R-Geneva) introduced a bill that would intensify the Republican Party’s already aggressive anti-immigrant agenda.

Senate Bill 21 proposes a constitutional amendment in Alabama that would ban naturalized citizens from running for most public office positions in the state, including governor, lieutenant governor, the state Supreme Court, State Board of Education, district attorney and many others.

Chesteen worked with Secretary of State Wes Allen (R) on SB 21. In a press release, SB 21 was described as “the cornerstone of Secretary of State Wes Allen’s agenda for the upcoming session.”

“I am excited to get this legislation passed and put the amendment on a ballot for a vote of the people. When Wes Allen approached me with the idea of mandating that all of our state’s elected constitutional officers must be natural-born citizens of the United States, I told him that I wanted to work with him as the Senate Sponsor on this legislation and make this a part of Alabama’s Constitution,” Chesteen said in the release. “Most people believe that is already a requirement and so we should ensure that we make it a prerequisite for serving.”

Allen expressed gratitude for Chesteen in his statement and argued that the “highest levels of our state government” should be held to the same standard as the president of the United States, which is the only office in the country that requires the candidate to be a natural-born citizen to be elected.

In an interview with the Alabama Reflector, Chesteen said he is not worried about constitutional challenges to his bill.

“The language in the bill speaks for what it’s trying to accomplish,” Chesteen said. “I don’t want to make this anything more complicated than it is.”

SB 21 will be referred to Alabama’s Senate Committee on State Government Affairs. The bill will require approval in the Alabama state Senate and state House of Representatives in the 2026 legislative session, which begins on Jan. 13. If SB 21 passes through the Republican-dominated legislature, the amendment will appear in front of voters on Election Day next year (Nov. 3). Alabama requires a simple majority from voters (50% +1) for constitutional amendments to pass.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Alabama Democratic Party did not respond to multiple inquiries for comment.