WASHINGTON, D.C. — All but two of Illinois’ 14 Democratic members of Congress voted against the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, a bill that amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand the deportability of immigrants who have been convicted of domestic violence.
The bill passed the House of Representatives Wednesday by a vote of 266 to 158, with 51 Democrats joining the Republican majority in support of the measure.
The dozen members of Congress who represent the greater Chicago area opposed the bill, but the two freshmen members who represent other parts of the state supported it — Nikki Budzinski in the downstate 13th District and Eric Sorensen from the Quad Cities area.
Sponsored by North Carolina Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, House Resolution 7909 provides that non-citizens convicted of sex offenses and domestic violence can be deported from the country and are ineligible for entry.
“We shouldn’t let them into our country under any circumstances, and if we catch them, they have got to go,” Mace said ahead of the vote, after recounting a list of crimes that she said had been committed by illegal immigrants.
“As a survivor of rape, I know firsthand the devastating tolls these heinous acts can take on a woman, the lifelong scars, the lifelong trauma that they leave behind,” Mace said. “One woman, or one child, violated by an illegal alien is one too many. Each and every sex crime or act of domestic violence committed by an illegal alien was preventable. They have no single right to be here today.”
House Democrats argued that the bill was partisan fearmongering to scapegoat immigrants. It was also opposed by a coalition of about 100 nonprofit groups that support survivors of domestic violence.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, said Republicans were weaponizing the definition of domestic violence from the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, in a way that could harm victims of domestic violence who get caught up in the criminal law system along with their abuser.
“While VAWA is a great law, its definition was never meant to capture criminal conduct. In fact, it explicitly says in the definition that it intends to capture conduct that ‘may or may not be criminal,'” Jayapal said. “There is a reason that advocacy organizations for domestic violence survivors are coming out in droves to oppose this legislation. They know how this expanded definition will harm survivors and create a chilling effect for reporting future crimes.”
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Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, said anyone who commits any crime of violence is already inadmissible and any immigrant convicted of an aggravated felony is already deportable.
“Sexual offenses and domestic violence are serious crimes, and if this bill fixed some gap in current law, I would have no problem supporting this legislation. But that is not the case here,” Nadler said.
“In reality, the redundancies in this bill all but ensure that no additional dangerous individuals would face immigration consequences if it were to become law,” he said. “Instead, the overly broad definition and lack of any waiver authority in this bill would result in extremely harsh and unintended consequences, including the removal of survivors of domestic violence.”
Some Republican congressional hopefuls have issued statements looking to capitalize on their Democratic opponents’ opposition to the bill.
Jim Carris, the Lake Forest Republican running against Rep. Brad Schneider in the north and northwest suburban 10th District, said the incumbent Democrat’s opposition to the bill shows a “blatant lack of common sense” and indicates that sides with the “far left.”
“This is especially disheartening for a District filled with intelligent and independent women who deserve unwavering support on all issues. By siding with the far left, he neglects the urgent need to protect our communities affected by illegal immigration,” Carris said.
“Unlike Brad Schneider, I support an immediate closure of the southern border, swift immigration reform, and robust law enforcement,” he said. “I will push for measures that prevent crimes against women and ensure harsh penalties for offenders.”
Arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico increased slightly in August following five months of decline, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The Border Patrol made about 58,000 arrests last month, a nearly 3 percent rise from July’s 56,399, the Associated Press reported. Those numbers remain near four-year lows following a recent peak of 250,000 arrests in December.
Meanwhile, about 44,700 people entered the U.S. legally through the CBP One app in August, with over 813,000 using the app since it was introduced.
Former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump has campaigned on a platform of mass deportation.
“We will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio — large deportations,” Trump told reporters Friday at one of his golf courses.
“We’re gonna get these people out. We’re bringing them back to Venezuela.”
It was not clear if the former president had mixed up Haiti and Venezuela — or if he was suggesting sending Haitian legal immigrants to Venezuela, a nation heavily sanctioned by his administration that has seen an exodus of 20 percent of its population in the past decade.
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