May 12, 2022
For Immediate Release
DOES BETO SUPPORT NEW RULES STOPPING DEPORTATION OF CRIMINALS?
“Extreme liberal Beto O’Rourke already opposes efforts to make deporting convicted illegal immigrant child predators a top priority, but does he also support making it more difficult to deport illegal immigrants convicted of dangerous crimes? Start the flip-flop clock.”
– Mark Miner, Communications Director
This Week, Attorney General Merrick Garland Made It More Difficult To Automatically Deport Illegal Immigrants Convicted Of “Particularly Serious” Crimes. “Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday said that immigration judges can now consider the mental health status of an illegal immigrant convicted of an aggravated felony when considering their asylum claim or whether to withhold their deportation — overruling a prior decision by a top immigration appeals board. The Immigration and Nationality Act makes illegal immigrants ineligible for both asylum and withholding of removal — where illegal immigrants are not returned because they have a fear of persecution if returned to their country of origin — if they have been convicted of a ‘particularly serious crime’ that constitutes a danger to the community. The DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review’s Board of Immigration Appeals had previously ruled in 2014 (in a case known as ‘Matter of G-G-S’) that, when judging that seriousness of the crime, ‘a person’s mental health is not a factor to be considered in a particularly serious crime analysis’ given that judges are not to go beyond the decisions of the criminal judge, and that mental condition does not relate to the conviction and the facts that make them a danger to the community.” (Adam Shaw And Bill Melugin, “Garland Says Judges May Consider Criminal Illegal Immigrants’ Mental Health When Considering Asylum Claims,” Fox News, 5/10/12)
O’Rourke Voted Against The DeSantis Amendment To H.R. 240 In 2015. (H.R. 240, On Agreeing To The DeSantis Amendment, U.S. House Of Representatives, 1/14/15, 278-149-6, O’Rourke Voted Nay)
- The DeSantis Amendment Required The DHS To Make Illegal Immigrants Convicted Of Domestic Violence, Child Molestation, Child Abuse Or Exploitation To Have The Highest Priority For Deportation. DESANTIS AMENDMENT: “An amendment numbered 3 printed in Part B of House Report 114-2 to require that DHS treat any alien convicted of any offense involving domestic violence, sexual abuse, child molestation, or child abuse or exploitation as within the categories of aliens subject to DHS’s highest civil immigration enforcement.” (H.Amdt.8 To H.R.240, U.S. House Of Representatives, Accessed 5/12/22)
- NOTE: The DeSantis Amendment Did Not Make The Final, Approved Legislation. (H.R. 240, Signed 3/4/15)