Last week, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was one of almost 20 Republicans in the U.S. Senate to co-sponsor U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe’s, R-Okla., “Keep Our Communities Safe Act.”
According to Inhofe’s office, the bill “would close the legal loophole that requires immigration authorities to release back into the United States illegal aliens who have not been accepted for deportation to other countries after being detained for six months – a practice also referred to as ‘catch and release.'”
“Our immigration system is broken and President Biden won’t acknowledge the crisis we are facing at the southern border,” Inhofe said. “That’s why my colleagues and I introduced the Keep Our Communities Safe Act this week. This legislation would close the ‘catch-and-release’ loophole, which puts law abiding citizens, local law enforcement officials and communities at risk. Our bill will ensure that illegal aliens who have been found guilty of violent crimes and aggravated felonies are not able to remain in our communities. As the current law stands, an illegal alien with a criminal record is released back into the United States after six months if no other country accepts them for deportation. This bill is a commonsense solution and it’s time for it to become law.”
“Our Southern Border is in disarray, and the Biden administration refuses to enforce immigration laws,” Rubio said. “This bill would put an end to ‘catch and release practice,’ which does nothing but incentivize more people to make the dangerous trek across our southern border.”
Inhofe’s office noted the bill “closes the loophole that prevents DHS from detaining non-removable immigrants beyond the current Supreme Court-mandated six months in these specific situations: the alien will be removed in the reasonably foreseeable future; the alien would have been removed but for the alien’s refusal to make all reasonable efforts to comply and cooperate with the Secretary’s efforts to remove him; the alien has a highly contagious disease; release would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences; release would threaten national security; or release would threaten the safety of the community and the alien either is an aggravated felon or has committed a crime of violence.”
The bill was sent to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. So far, there is no companion measure over in the U.S. House. With Democrats in control of both chambers on Capitol Hill, the bill is not expected to pass.
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