158 Dems Oppose Bill On Deporting Illegal Immigrants Who Commit Sex Crimes, Domestic Violence

On Wednesday, most House Democrats voted against legislation that seeks to ensure that illegal immigrants who commit sex crimes and domestic violence can be deported from the United States.

The bill, called the “Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act,” passed with the support of 215 Republicans and 51 Democrats. Another 158 Democrats and no Republicans voted against it. Seven other lawmakers did not vote.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who introduced the legislation earlier this year, said on X that “158 Left-wing members of Congress just voted against deporting rapists, pedophiles and murderers of women and kids.”

The bill states that it would “amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that aliens who have been convicted of or who have committed sex offenses or domestic violence are inadmissible and deportable.”

It also contains provisions that apply to crimes of stalking, child abuse, child neglect, child abandonment, or violating the portion of a protection order “against credible threats of violence, repeated harassment, or bodily injury.”

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, claimed the bill has “redundancies” that “all but ensure that no additional dangerous individuals would face immigration consequences if it were to become law.”

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The chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), bemoaned how lawmakers were “debating another partisan bill that fear mongers about immigrants instead of working together to fix the immigration system.”

But, according to Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), the bill “removes any loopholes in current law and requires that illegal aliens who commit sex offenses or domestic violence are not to be allowed into this country anymore and must be immediately removed from our country when they’re found.”

And, citing a specific area of concern, Mace said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas argued in a September 2021 memo that “domestic violence shouldn’t be categorical grounds to apprehend and remove an illegal alien.”

The bill now heads to the Democrat-controlled Senate, where it may or may not be taken up for consideration. In the meantime, the fact that 158 House Democrats opposed the legislation gave Republicans a new attack line in the lead-up to the November election.

“DID YOU KNOW: Last night, 158 House Democrats VOTED AGAINST deporting illegal aliens that commit sex crimes & domestic violence,” Rep. Byron Donald (R-FL) said on X. “These 158 House Democrats voted against common sense. These 158 House Democrats voted against your safety. And we all deserve better. Remember this.”