VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN BY ILLEGAL ALIENS ACT

On 2024-09-18, Representative Tom McClintock (R-CA-5) delivered a floor speech titled "VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN BY ILLEGAL ALIENS ACT" in the House. The speech addressed immigration and also covered abortion, taxes. It referenced legislation including HR7909, HRES1455.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN BY ILLEGAL ALIENS ACT

Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 145 (Wednesday, September 18, 2024) [Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 145 (Wednesday, September 18, 2024)] [House] [Pages H5354-H5358] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN BY ILLEGAL ALIENS ACT Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1455, I call up the bill (H.R. 7909) to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that aliens who have been convicted of or who have committed sex offenses or domestic violence are inadmissible and deportable, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1455, in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on the Judiciary, printed in the bill, an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 118-47 shall be considered as adopted and the bill, as amended, is considered read. The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows: H.R. 7909 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act''. SEC. 2. INADMISSIBILITY AND DEPORTABILITY RELATED TO SEX OFFENSES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, STALKING, CHILD ABUSE, OR VIOLATION OF PROTECTION ORDER. (a) Inadmissibility.--Section 212(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(J) Sex offenses.--Any alien who has been convicted of, who admits having committed, or who admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of a sex offense (as such term is defined in section 111(5) of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (34 U.S.C. 20911(5))), or a conspiracy to commit such an offense, is inadmissible. ``(K) Domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, or violation of protection order.--Any alien who has been convicted of, who admits having committed, or who admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of-- ``(i) a crime of domestic violence (as such term is defined in section 237(a)(2)(E)); ``(ii) a crime of stalking; ``(iii) a crime of child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment; or ``(iv) a crime of violating the portion of a protection order (as such term is defined in section 237(a)(2)(E)) that involves protection against credible threats of violence, repeated harassment, or bodily injury to the person or persons for whom the protection order was issued, is inadmissible.''. (b) Deportability.--Section 237(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)) is amended-- (1) in subparagraph (E)-- (A) in the heading, by striking ``crimes against children and'' and inserting ``and crimes against children''; and (B) in clause (i), by inserting before the period at the end the following ``, and includes any crime that constitutes domestic violence, as such term is defined in section 40002(a) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a), regardless of whether the jurisdiction receives grant funding under that Act''; and (2) by adding at the end the following: ``(G) Sex offenses.--Any alien who has been convicted of a sex offense (as such term is defined in section 111(5) of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (34 U.S.C. 20911(5))) or a conspiracy to commit such an offense, is deportable.''. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill, as amended, shall be debatable for 1 hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary, or their respective designees. The gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) each will control 30 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock). General Leave Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 7909. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from California? There was no objection. Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, just last week, the Judiciary Committee heard from moms whose daughters were brutally assaulted and murdered by illegal aliens who have been welcomed into our country by President Biden and Vice President Harris. The statistics tell us how broad this threat has become, but the individual cases tell us how deep and painful it is. It seems that every few days we learn of little girls and young teens or moms abducted by illegals, raped by illegals, and murdered by illegals, none of whom have any right to be here, and all of whom have been trafficked into our country by this administration's policies. These entirely preventable tragedies will continue as long as these policies continue. The Democrats often talk about the war on women over abortion or employment policy, but it seems my colleagues couldn't care less about allowing into our country a flood of sexual offenders, domestic violence offenders, and child abusers, and allowing them to stay indefinitely, free from any fear of deportation. When these monsters commit these ghastly acts and their grief- stricken moms appear before our committee, the Democrats put on their best long faces, assure everyone how much my colleagues on the other side of the aisle grieve with the families, and then argue to continue precisely the same policies that have produced this nightmare in the first place. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 7909, the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, removes any loopholes in current law and requires that illegal aliens who commit sex offenses or domestic violence are not to be allowed into this country anymore and must be immediately removed from our country when they are found, period. The Democrats say this is duplicative of existing law. If that is true, why do they oppose it? The Democrats say it is unnecessary. Tell that to the growing number of families who are paying the butcher's bill for these open-border policies. [[Page H5355]] Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. {time} 1600 Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, here we are again debating a bill that is another attempt by the majority to scapegoat and fearmonger about immigrants. This legislation purports to add new grounds of inadmissibility and deportability for sexual offenses, adds a new ground of inadmissibility for domestic violence and other related offensives, and expands the current grounds for deportability for domestic violence. Sexual offenses and domestic violence are serious crimes, and if this bill fixed some gap in current law, I would have no problem supporting this legislation, but that is not the case here. In reality, the redundancies in this bill all but ensure that no additional dangerous individuals would face immigration consequences if it were to become law. Instead, the overly broad definition and lack of any waiver authority in this bill would result in extremely harsh and unintended consequences, including the removal of survivors of domestic violence. Let's be very clear: All serious sexual offenses are already grounds for deportability and inadmissibility. For example, an individual is rendered deportable if they are convicted of an aggravated felony, which includes rape, sexual abuse of a minor, or a crime of violence, which is defined as any ``offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person.'' Individuals who are convicted, or admit committing the act, of a crime involving moral turpitude, or a CIMT, are already subject to inadmissibility. Crimes in which there is intent to cause bodily harm have long been considered CIMTs. As such, people who are convicted or admit committing an act of any crime where there is an intent to cause bodily harm like sexual assaults are already inadmissible. Where this bill has serious problems is in the sections relating to domestic violence. Under current law, people are rendered deportable if they are convicted of domestic violence and other related crimes and can be deemed inadmissible if they commit the acts or are convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, where the domestic violence or related offense has intent to cause bodily harm. The crime of domestic violence is already well covered by current law. However, this bill attempts to significantly expand the definition of domestic violence to include the Violence Against Women Act definition that is used for grants and funding. This is a much broader definition that was never meant to be used in criminal law. We know that because the definition explicitly says it covers conduct ``that may or may not constitute criminal behavior.'' The definition for domestic violence under Federal criminal law focuses on physical force. This broader VAWA-based definition sweeps in a wider range of behaviors that domestic violence organizations say will implicate survivors who have used violence in self-defense or who were accused by their abusers and were either unable to defend themselves or pled guilty to avoid having to go through the court process. The bill would also make it less likely that immigrant communities will report incidents of domestic violence. We recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of the passage of VAWA, and we should continue our work to combat domestic violence, but this legislation would actually set back our efforts to protect survivors. That is why over 200 national and local groups, as part of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, the experts in the field, oppose this legislation. I think we ought to listen to th

Referenced legislation: HRES1455, HRES1455, HR7909