The House on Jan. 16 passed legislation that will deport illegal immigrants convicted of domestic violence or sexual assault. All Republicans were joined by 61 Democrats to push the bill through with a vote of 274–145.
Similar legislation passed the House 266–158 in the last Congress but languished in committee in the Senate.
Mace, a victim of rape and domestic violence, refuted accusations that the bill demonizes illegal immigrants, saying that she wanted to “demonize illegal immigrants who are here raping our women and girls, murdering our women and girls, and who are pedophiles, molesting our children.”
“You’re darn right, that’s what I’m here to do today,” she said during a debate on the House floor.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said he opposed the bill because victims of domestic violence are sometimes accused by their attackers as retaliation.
“The way this messaging bill is actually written will create big problems for many, many victims of domestic violence,” Raskin said.
He cited the example of a woman who was convicted of domestic violence after she bit the ear of a man allegedly trying to assault her. She was sentenced to time served after spending 10 days in jail, he said.
Raskin also objected that the bill uses the definition of domestic violence from the Violence Against Women Act. This expands domestic abuse to encompass nonviolent offenses such as “verbal, psychological, economic, or technological abuse,” Raskin said.
He noted that the legislation was opposed by numerous domestic violence advocacy groups, including the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and Catholic Charities in Omaha, Nebraska.
Both of those bills have passed the House and are expected to clear the Senate.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said current immigration laws already call for deportation for those who are convicted of or admit to such crimes.
“There is actually no gap in the law that needs to be fixed,” she said.
President-elect Donald Trump will regain the Oval Office next week after a campaign in which he pledged to take a hard stance on illegal immigrants who commit crimes in the United States.
Former ICE director Tom Homan, who has been tapped as Trump’s border czar—a position that doesn’t require Senate confirmation—has said he will conduct a large-scale deportation of illegal immigrants, beginning with those who have been convicted of criminal activity.
