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Washington, DC – On the first day of the 115^th Congress, U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) reintroduced his Criminal Alien Deportation Enforcement Act (H.R. 82), a common-sense bill that will withhold foreign aid and travel visas from any country that refuses to take back one their citizens who has been criminally detained and ordered to be deported from the United States. Last Congress, the legislation (H.R. 5224) received over 50 co-sponsors, including one Democrat.

Under President-elect Trump, the bill faces renewed interest as he has voiced his strong support for punishing countries that refuse to accept deportations. The President-elect states in his ten-point immigration plan that we need to “Ensure that other countries take their people back when we order them deported.”

“There is absolutely no reason that criminal aliens should be released back onto America’s streets, yet that is exactly what is happening by the thousands each and every year because their countries of origin refuse to take them back,” said Rep. Babin.  “My bill upholds the rule of law and holds these countries accountable by stripping their foreign aid and travel visas if they fail to cooperate.  President-elect Donald Trump has announced that deporting the roughly 2 million criminal aliens in our country would be a top priority for his presidency – and this legislation is a critical component to any such effort.”

According to a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee report, 86,288 illegal immigrants who committed 231,074 crimes were released by the Obama Administration since 2013. Among them was an illegal immigrant named Jean Jacques, whose native Haiti refused to accept him back after he served seventeen years for attempted murder.  Within six months of his release from a U.S. prison, Jacques murdered Casey Chadwick, a 25 year-old young woman in Connecticut.  Had Haiti been compelled to take Jacques back, Casey would be alive today.  

“For the sake of Casey and thousands of other Americans who have been victimized, it is time we start putting the safety of our citizens first and stop this revolving door that is allowing dangerous criminals who should be deported back onto our streets,” said Rep. Babin.

Specifically, H.R. 82 would:

1. Withhold foreign aid to uncooperative countries that refuse to take back their citizens who are criminal aliens;
2. Suspend visas for countries that are deemed non-cooperative in repatriating their own citizens who are criminal aliens;
3. Make it easier to track non-cooperative countries by mandating that the Department of Homeland Security submit to Congress a report every three months listing the uncooperative countries; and
4. Provide the victims of crimes committed by criminal aliens standing in federal court to sue for deportation of such criminal aliens.