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Combating gangs, keeping Idaho families safe |
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September 15, 2017 |
By U.S. Congressman Raul Labrador
This week, the House took strong action to deal
with the ever-growing threat of transnational
criminal gangs such as MS-13. The House passed
my bill, H.R. 3697, which bars alien gang
members from coming to the U.S. and detains and
removes them if they are criminal gang members
or participate in gang activity.
This is the third time this year the House has
passed portions of the Davis-Oliver Act, which I
introduced in May, to strengthen immigration
enforcement.
According to U.S. Immigration and Enforcement
(better known as “ICE”), violent transnational
gangs “have grown to become a serious threat in
American communities across the nation – not
only in cities, but increasingly in suburban and
even rural areas” and “entire neighborhoods and
sometimes whole communities are held hostage by
and subjected to their violence.” Furthermore,
ICE has found that “membership of these violent
transnational gangs [is] comprised largely of
foreign-born nationals.”
At every level, our law enforcement officials
are working to curb this growing threat with
large scale enforcement actions. However, it’s
notoriously difficult to prosecute criminal gang
members. Victims of gang crime and witnesses are
often reluctant to testify because of the
reasonable fear of retaliation. Thus, many gang
members are never convicted of the crimes they
commit.
The question is often asked: “Why should
law-abiding Americans have to wait until an
alien gang member has committed a deportable
offense? Why not deport the gang member before
he has a chance to victimize more innocent
people?”
The answer is that current immigration law
contains dangerous loopholes that alien gang
members are exploiting. Currently, an alien may
not be deported even if he is known to be a
member of a criminal gang or participating in
gang activities. ICE must wait for the gang
member to first be convicted of a deportable
offense.
H.R. 3697, the Criminal Alien Gang Member
Removal Act, changes that. For the first time,
ICE will be permitted to place alien gang
members into removal proceedings on the grounds
of being criminal gang members. In addition,
H.R. 3697 ensures that criminal alien gang
members are not eligible for immigration
benefits, such as asylum, special immigrant
juvenile status, and temporary protected status.
On June 29, the House passed two bills that were
taken out of the Davis-Oliver Act: Kate’s Law,
which increases penalties for deported felons
who return to the U.S; and the No Sanctuary for
Criminals Act, which combats sanctuary policies
that shield illegal immigrants from federal
immigration enforcement. Now we can add a third
bill to the list: The Criminal Alien Gang Member
Removal Act. To watch my House floor speech in
support of the act, please click here.
The federal government’s most important
responsibility is the safety and security of
American families. The bills I’ve introduced –
and that the House has passed – help fulfill
that responsibility. Now it’s time for the
Senate to act so these bills can become law.
I remain committed to do all that I can to fix
our broken immigration system and to keep the
people of Idaho safe and secure. |
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