WASHINGTON — Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, joined with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, in unveiling legislation Thursday to protect American lives from criminal alien violence:

Chairman Johnson said, “It doesn’t make any sense that an illegal immigrant who has been deported five times and has seven felony convictions was released into a community to kill an innocent young woman.  It also doesn’t make any sense that, on this administration’s watch, 121 criminal aliens have been released who subsequently have been charged with a homicide-related offense.  This legislation, which I am pleased to introduce with Senator Sessions, will safeguard against further tragedies by ensuring that sanctuary jurisdictions are no longer allowed or motivated to release criminal aliens into the public sphere.”

Chairman Sessions said, “On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee—and the nation—heard testimony from grieving families who lost loved ones to criminal alien violence. Each and every one of these deaths, and thousands more like them, were completely preventable.  There is never a reason to allow a dangerous criminal alien to enter, live, or remain in the United States. No parent should ever have to bury a child because we failed to keep violent criminals out of the country or failed to deport them once they were in the country. Protecting the lives of innocent Americans is one of the most basic duties of the federal government. Our goal should be to keep 100% of dangerous aliens out of the United States.

“There is no delicate balancing act here: we need to remove potentially violent offenders before they hurt innocent families—before the irreversible occurs. Foreign nationals cycling in and out of prisons and jails are by definition a high-risk population. Releasing “low-level” criminal aliens from jails ensures only one thing: more opportunities for innocent Americans to get hurt—and more mothers burying more children. Yet mayors, governors, and Presidents continue bowing to special interests, allowing thousands of criminal alien offenders to walk free. In the last two years alone, the Administration has released 76,000 criminal aliens with convictions back into U.S. communities.

“That is why Senator Johnson and I are introducing the Protecting American Lives Act. This simple proposal will close several of the most dangerous enforcement loopholes. It will require state and local jurisdictions to notify the federal government when a criminal alien is in their custody; it will withhold funds from any local jurisdiction that releases an alien after a federal detainer has been placed on them; and it will establish a 5-year minimum prison sentence for deported aliens who attempt to illegally re-enter the United States.

This bill will make all communities safer. I urge its swift consideration and adoption. Additionally, I urge Congress to take up the Davis-Oliver bill, a comprehensive solution to our interior enforcement collapse, named in honor of two law enforcement officers who lost their lives to a twice-deported criminal alien.”

BACKGROUND:

The “Protecting American Lives Act” would: withhold federal funding from any state or local jurisdiction that refuses to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement (including notifying federal authorities about the apprehension of criminal aliens, and honoring immigration detainers); provide legal immunity to local jurisdictions that honor detainers; establish a 5-year mandatory minimum sentence for the illegal re-entry of previously deported aliens; and provide a Sense of Congress that DHS has probably cause when it issues a detainer.

In addition to Johnson and Sessions, current cosponsors include Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

To view the legislative text, please click here. 

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