No legislation can prevent every tragic situation, but this
Congress has a duty to take every action possible to mitigate this harm
and danger. It is in this vein that I am proud to bring Kate's Law to the House
floor today. This bill seeks to amend and greatly improve section 276
of the Immigration and Nationality Act by enhancing the maximum
sentences for criminal aliens who seek to reenter the United States. While an alien reentering this country is subject to a sentence of up
to 2 years, current law only subjects certain criminals to enhance
penalties. Specifically, only criminal aliens previously convicted of
an aggravated felony, as defined in our immigration laws, controlled
substance violations, crimes against other persons, or certain felonies
would trigger an enhanced sentence of either 10 or 20 years. Kate's Law closes the loophole into which so many criminal aliens
fall. The bill provides that a criminal alien, previously convicted of
any three misdemeanors or any felony, would, upon conviction for
illegal reentry, be subject to a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Identified stereotypes
Associating undocumented immigrants with criminality.
Keywords matched
immigration Immigration