Speech #CREC-2017-09-14-pt1-PgH7387-2_t47

BABIN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act. Remarkably, under current law, membership in a criminal street gang does not in and of itself make a non-citizen inadmissible or deportable from the United States. This common-sense bill corrects this dangerous loophole by requiring that criminal alien gang members be deported swiftly and never allowed back into the United States. It provides law enforcement with another tool in their arsenal to combat dangerous and deadly criminal gangs--like MS-13. Criminal gangs benefit from loopholes in our immigration laws and today we are taking an important step to close the door to the United States for non- citizen criminal gang members. Over the past 12 months, several thousand criminal aliens who were confirmed members of gangs were removed from the United States by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This year ICE is continuing its focus on making our streets safer by removing criminal gang members with a particular focus on MS-13 members. It is past time that we strengthen our immigration laws, deport criminal aliens and secure our borders. We have a duty to make America safe for its citizens and H.R. 3697 is an important step in that direction.