With enforcement of immigration law said to be eroding under the Obama administration, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has introduced a new bill to strengthen immigration enforcement.
“Congress spends too much time catering to special interests, and not enough time serving the people who sent us here. Advancing this bill would be a dramatic step towards reestablishing the severed trust between the people and their government,” Sessions, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, said Monday.
The legislation is named for two local law enforcement officers murdered by an illegal immigrant with a criminal record who had already been deported twice: Detective Michael Davis and Deputy Danny Oliver. Sessions’ bill is a companion to the House’s legislation introduced by Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC).
“This legislation will ensure cooperation between state, local, and federal officials, each with their own valuable role,” Sessions added. “It will crack down on sanctuary cities. It will empower our Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to actually enforce our immigration laws—protecting the jobs, wages, and well-being of the American people. It will make sure that our immigration policies are carried out—not ignored.”
Sessions stressed that criminal immigrants are released from custody every day, noting that over the course of two years the Obama administration released 76,000 convicted criminal immigrants.
In addition to the recent releases, there remain some 169,00 convicted criminal immigrants facing orders of deportation at large throughout the U.S. Further, in recent years 121 criminal immigrants who were supposed to be deported but released instead went on to commit murder.
“In America, tens of thousands of preventable crimes occur each year, including the most violent and heinous, because of our failure to enforce our immigration laws. Too many people are living in fear of violent gangs and drug cartels as a result,” he said.
“Every single day, law officers at the state, local, and federal level are forced to release criminal aliens who pose a threat to community safety—in violation of current laws that require deportation,” he added.
Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR), David Perdue (R-GA), David Vitter (R-LA), and Jim Inhofe (R-OK) joined Sessions in introducing The Michael Davis, Jr. and Danny Oliver in Honor of State and Local Law Enforcement Act.