The House on Thursday passed the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act authored by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC).
The measure mandates the deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes against women, including domestic violence, sex crimes, and other offenses.
The bill was passed in a 274 to 145 vote, with 61 Democrats joining 213 Republicans who voted for the proposed legislation. It was opposed by 145 Democrats.
In a speech on the House floor on Thursday, Mace said, “Under the open border policies of Joe Biden and border czar Kamala Harris and Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas, our country has been ravaged by a horde of illegal aliens molesting American children, battering and bruising and beating up American women, and violently raping American women and girls.”
The lawmaker further explained that the bill “makes it very clear that if an illegal alien commits a sex crime or an act of domestic violence, they are inadmissible, and deportable.”
She blasted Democrats opposing the bill accusing them of trying to “minimize this issue because they refuse to acknowledge the consequences that their open borders agenda is here.”
The lawmaker further questioned whether the Democrats who voted against the bill the last time it was up for consideration would “apologize to American women and girls today and do the right thing for our citizens.”
She added: “A vote against this bill is a vote against deporting illegal aliens who rape and abuse women and children” and a “vote to invite illegal aliens who rape and abuse women and children into the United States of America.”
BREAKING: Nancy Mace just eviscerated Democrats who are opposing H.R. 30 Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 16, 2025
"My bill makes it very clear, and if an illegal alien commits a s*x crime or an act of domestic violence, they are inadmissible and deportable."
"We… pic.twitter.com/FS5PR4SrKg
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) celebrated the vote in a video recorded at the Capitol. He said the measure “closes a loophole in current law by establishing a new ground of admissibility for several domestic violence-related offenses.”
He added: “The usual cast of characters in the Democrat Party voted against it. It just doesn't make any sense other than they do not want to admit that they created a huge problem with those 14 million that we know of that came over illegally.”
We passed a @NancyMace @RepNancyMace bill to prevent Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens and Democrats opposed it. pic.twitter.com/LgX1OEY299
— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) January 16, 2025
The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act, expanding the grounds for inadmissibility and deportability to include illegal immigrants who are convicted of, or who admit to, committing sex offenses, domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, or violations of protection orders.”
The “Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act,” introduced in the 119th Congress as H.R. 30, seeks to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act. The bill expands the grounds for inadmissibility and deportability to include aliens convicted of or who admit to committing sex offenses, domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, or violations of protection orders.
“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 … is inadmissible,” the bill reads.
Several Democrats voiced their opposition to the measure, arguing that there are already laws that accomplish the same outcome. They point out that the measure could be used to target illegals who fight back against abusers or those who have been falsely accused by their abusers.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said, “No exceptions would exist any longer for domestic violence victims who have committed minor crimes in the context of resisting their violent abuse,” and that the bill would “only make the immigration laws much harsher on the victims of domestic violence, sexual battery and rape, which is the opposite of what we should be doing.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) told PolitiFact’’ that she voted against the bill because “all serious sexual and violent offenses already render someone deportable under the law.”
North Carolina University law professor Rick Su echoed Wasserman Schultz’s argument. "Even if domestic violence and sex crimes were not explicitly noted as deportable offenses, they would almost certainly fall under a ‘crime involving moral turpitude,’" he said.
Grace Huang, policy director for the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence,” pointed out that the bill did not include waivers for innocent victims, saying, “Sometimes the wrong person is arrested, or sometimes there is mutual violence (and) a predominant aggressor isn’t arrested.”
The bill is viewed as part of President-elect Donald Trump’s overall agenda to deport illegal immigrants – especially those who commit additional crimes while living in the country.