WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen Jim Inhofe (R-OK), yesterday introduced the Keep Our Communities Safe Act, with Sens. John Boozman (R-AR), Tom Cotton (R-AR), David Perdue (R-GA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Ted Cruz (R-TX). The legislation 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."
Sen. Inhofe also co-sponsored the Immigration Detainer Enforcement Act and the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act this week.
“The Keep Our Communities Safe Act closes the ‘catch-and-release’ loophole, which puts our law abiding citizens, local law enforcement officials and communities at risk,” Inhofe said. “It 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. It’s past time to enact legislation to fix this problem.”
“It’s reckless to release illegal aliens into our country – despite warranting detention – because of an arbitrary timeline,” Cramer said. “Such disregard for the rule of law is not only bad policy, but it also poses a threat to American citizens. Our legislation to close these loopholes will help deter those who want to come into our country and take advantage of our broken immigration system.”