[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 145 (Wednesday, September 18, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H5354-H5358]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN BY ILLEGAL ALIENS ACT

  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1455, I 
call up the bill (H.R. 7909) to amend the Immigration and Nationality 
Act to provide that aliens who have been convicted of or who have 
committed sex offenses or domestic violence are inadmissible and 
deportable, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1455, in lieu 
of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the 
Committee on the Judiciary, printed in the bill, an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 
118-47 shall be considered as adopted and the bill, as amended, is 
considered read.
  The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:

                               H.R. 7909

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Violence Against Women by 
     Illegal Aliens Act''.

     SEC. 2. INADMISSIBILITY AND DEPORTABILITY RELATED TO SEX 
                   OFFENSES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, STALKING, CHILD 
                   ABUSE, OR VIOLATION OF PROTECTION ORDER.

       (a) Inadmissibility.--Section 212(a)(2) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(J) Sex offenses.--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 (as 
     such term is defined in section 111(5) of the Adam Walsh 
     Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (34 U.S.C. 
     20911(5))), or a conspiracy to commit such an offense, is 
     inadmissible.
       ``(K) Domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, or 
     violation of protection order.--Any alien who has been 
     convicted of, who admits having committed, or who admits 
     committing acts which constitute the essential elements of--
       ``(i) a crime of domestic violence (as such term is defined 
     in section 237(a)(2)(E));
       ``(ii) a crime of stalking;
       ``(iii) a crime of child abuse, child neglect, or child 
     abandonment; or
       ``(iv) a crime of violating the portion of a protection 
     order (as such term is defined in section 237(a)(2)(E)) that 
     involves protection against credible threats of violence, 
     repeated harassment, or bodily injury to the person or 
     persons for whom the protection order was issued,
     is inadmissible.''.
       (b) Deportability.--Section 237(a)(2) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (E)--
       (A) in the heading, by striking ``crimes against children 
     and'' and inserting ``and crimes against children''; and
       (B) in clause (i), by inserting before the period at the 
     end the following ``, and includes any crime that constitutes 
     domestic violence, as such term is defined in section 
     40002(a) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 
     of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a), regardless of whether the 
     jurisdiction receives grant funding under that Act''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(G) Sex offenses.--Any alien who has been convicted of a 
     sex offense (as such term is defined in section 111(5) of the 
     Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (34 U.S.C. 
     20911(5))) or a conspiracy to commit such an offense, is 
     deportable.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill, as amended, shall be debatable for 
1 hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary, or their respective 
designees.
  The gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) and the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Nadler) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).


                             General Leave

  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H.R. 7909.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, just last week, the Judiciary Committee heard from moms 
whose daughters were brutally assaulted and murdered by illegal aliens 
who have been welcomed into our country by President Biden and Vice 
President Harris.
  The statistics tell us how broad this threat has become, but the 
individual cases tell us how deep and painful it is. It seems that 
every few days we learn of little girls and young teens or moms 
abducted by illegals, raped by illegals, and murdered by illegals, none 
of whom have any right to be here, and all of whom have been trafficked 
into our country by this administration's policies. These entirely 
preventable tragedies will continue as long as these policies continue.
  The Democrats often talk about the war on women over abortion or 
employment policy, but it seems my colleagues couldn't care less about 
allowing into our country a flood of sexual offenders, domestic 
violence offenders, and child abusers, and allowing them to stay 
indefinitely, free from any fear of deportation.
  When these monsters commit these ghastly acts and their grief-
stricken moms appear before our committee, the Democrats put on their 
best long faces, assure everyone how much my colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle grieve with the families, and then argue to continue 
precisely the same policies that have produced this nightmare in the 
first place.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 7909, the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens 
Act, removes any loopholes in current law and requires that illegal 
aliens who commit sex offenses or domestic violence are not to be 
allowed into this country anymore and must be immediately removed from 
our country when they are found, period.
  The Democrats say this is duplicative of existing law. If that is 
true, why do they oppose it? The Democrats say it is unnecessary. Tell 
that to the growing number of families who are paying the butcher's 
bill for these open-border policies.

[[Page H5355]]

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1600

  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, here we are again debating a bill that is another 
attempt by the majority to scapegoat and fearmonger about immigrants. 
This legislation purports to add new grounds of inadmissibility and 
deportability for sexual offenses, adds a new ground of inadmissibility 
for domestic violence and other related offensives, and expands the 
current grounds for deportability for domestic violence.
  Sexual offenses and domestic violence are serious crimes, and if this 
bill fixed some gap in current law, I would have no problem supporting 
this legislation, but that is not the case here.
  In reality, the redundancies in this bill all but ensure that no 
additional dangerous individuals would face immigration consequences if 
it were to become law. Instead, the overly broad definition and lack of 
any waiver authority in this bill would result in extremely harsh and 
unintended consequences, including the removal of survivors of domestic 
violence.
  Let's be very clear: All serious sexual offenses are already grounds 
for deportability and inadmissibility. For example, an individual is 
rendered deportable if they are convicted of an aggravated felony, 
which includes rape, sexual abuse of a minor, or a crime of violence, 
which is defined as any ``offense that has as an element the use, 
attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the 
person.''
  Individuals who are convicted, or admit committing the act, of a 
crime involving moral turpitude, or a CIMT, are already subject to 
inadmissibility. Crimes in which there is intent to cause bodily harm 
have long been considered CIMTs. As such, people who are convicted or 
admit committing an act of any crime where there is an intent to cause 
bodily harm like sexual assaults are already inadmissible.
  Where this bill has serious problems is in the sections relating to 
domestic violence. Under current law, people are rendered deportable if 
they are convicted of domestic violence and other related crimes and 
can be deemed inadmissible if they commit the acts or are convicted of 
a crime involving moral turpitude, where the domestic violence or 
related offense has intent to cause bodily harm. The crime of domestic 
violence is already well covered by current law.
  However, this bill attempts to significantly expand the definition of 
domestic violence to include the Violence Against Women Act definition 
that is used for grants and funding. This is a much broader definition 
that was never meant to be used in criminal law. We know that because 
the definition explicitly says it covers conduct ``that may or may not 
constitute criminal behavior.''
  The definition for domestic violence under Federal criminal law 
focuses on physical force. This broader VAWA-based definition sweeps in 
a wider range of behaviors that domestic violence organizations say 
will implicate survivors who have used violence in self-defense or who 
were accused by their abusers and were either unable to defend 
themselves or pled guilty to avoid having to go through the court 
process.
  The bill would also make it less likely that immigrant communities 
will report incidents of domestic violence.
  We recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of the passage of VAWA, 
and we should continue our work to combat domestic violence, but this 
legislation would actually set back our efforts to protect survivors.
  That is why over 200 national and local groups, as part of the 
National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, the experts in 
the field, oppose this legislation. I think we ought to listen to them. 
We need to work together to solve our immigration problems, but this 
bill takes us in the wrong direction.
  It attempts to fearmonger and demonize immigrants, just like the 
disgusting and absurd comments by former President Trump and many of 
his colleagues related to Haitians eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, a 
claim that has been thoroughly debunked, including by the Republican 
mayor of Springfield and Republican Governor DeWine of Ohio. Those 
comments have led to Springfield City Hall and several of its schools 
being evacuated and closed and multiple hospitals being locked down due 
to bomb threats.
  My Republican colleagues may think that their words and lack of care 
have no impact, but sadly, we have seen that they can set off a deadly 
chain reaction.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this misguided bill, and 
I reserve the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Scott Franklin of Florida). The Chair 
would remind Members to refrain from engaging in personalities toward 
nominees for the Office of the President.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Lee) will control the balance of time of the majority.
  There was no objection.
  Ms. LEE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7909, the 
Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act.
  In 3\1/2\ years, President Joe Biden and border czar Vice President 
Kamala Harris have allowed more than 7.5 million unvetted illegal 
aliens into the United States.
  At the same time that they facilitated the collapse of our southwest 
border, President Biden and Vice President Harris have abandoned any 
semblance of interior immigration enforcement.
  In a September 2021 memo, the Biden-Harris administration made 
enforcement more difficult for Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
officers. In training materials obtained by the Judiciary Committee and 
published in a staff report earlier this year, DHS failed to answer 
seemingly clear-cut questions, such as whether an alien who served a 
20-year drug-related prison sentence or an alien who discharged a 
firearm outside of a police station should be priorities for arrest and 
deportation.

  Those are the training materials required for all of ICE's 
enforcement personnel nationwide. Instead of making clear that ICE 
officers should carry out their duties to remove criminal aliens from 
American streets, the Biden-Harris administration instructs ICE 
officers to develop a full profile of a criminal alien before deciding 
whether to arrest someone who is in the country illegally.
  In the training examples, that includes determining whether an alien 
has high blood pressure or is a caregiver, rather than focusing on 
appropriate considerations such as criminal history and whether the 
illegal alien is a danger to the community.
  In a transcribed interview with the Judiciary Committee, a former top 
ICE official admitted that the Biden-Harris administration's policies 
have made immigration enforcement more dangerous for ICE officers, more 
difficult to carry out, and less efficient overall.
  The ICE official even acknowledged that because of the border crisis, 
fewer ICE officers are available to track down public safety and 
national security threats because they are left to do border-related 
tasks, but this shouldn't be a surprise.
  In 2019, Kamala Harris told the ACLU she would slash funding for 
immigration detention, close private immigration detention centers, and 
even use taxpayer funding to provide transgender surgeries for illegal 
aliens detained in the United States.
  Here is how her policies are working out.
  In fiscal year 2019, the Trump administration arrested aliens who 
accounted for 5,435 convictions and charges for family offenses. That 
number dropped to a mere 3,439 in fiscal year 2023, a 36.7 percent 
decrease.
  In fiscal year 2019, ICE arrested aliens who were responsible for 
6,650 sex offenses and 5,061 sexual assault offenses. Under the Biden 
administration in fiscal year 2023, ICE arrested aliens responsible for 
only 5,746 sex offenses and 4,390 sexual assault offenses, drops of 13 
percent in each category.
  These aren't just hypotheticals or just numbers. They are a reality 
for families across America who need these offenders to be arrested and 
prosecuted and, more importantly, need them to be prevented from 
entering the United States of America in the first place.
  They are emblematic of the Biden-Harris administration's war on 
women. Just last week, the Judiciary Committee heard from three moms 
whose

[[Page H5356]]

daughters were brutally assaulted and murdered by illegal aliens 
welcomed into the country by President Biden and Vice President Harris.
  Tammy Nobles recounted how Joe Biden and Kamala Harris released into 
the country the MS-13 gang member who went on to murder and sexually 
assault her daughter, Kayla Hamilton. The killer later admitted to four 
additional murders and two additional rapes.
  Patty Morin told how an illegal alien raped and strangled her 
daughter, Rachel, and then stuffed her body into a drainpipe. The 
alleged murderer entered the country through border czar Kamala Harris' 
wide-open southern border.
  Alexis Nungaray spoke about how Joe Biden and Kamala Harris released 
at the border the two illegal aliens who went on to viciously assault 
and murder her 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn. Ms. Nungaray said: ``She 
had no clothing from the waist down. Her hands and her ankles were tied 
and thrown under the bridge of water like she was nothing but 
garbage.''
  Victim advocate April Aguirre also told the tragic story of 11-year-
old Maria Gonzalez. The Biden-Harris administration released her 
alleged murderer into the United States. Just 7 months earlier, the 
illegal alien assaulted and killed Maria, wrapped her body in a trash 
bag, and stuffed her in a laundry basket that he placed under her bed.
  These are not isolated incidents.
  In February, an illegal alien was arrested in Alabama for allegedly 
raping a 14-year-old girl who could not consent to the intercourse as 
she was physically helpless or mentally incapacitated.
  In April, an illegal alien was arrested in Indiana for allegedly 
breaking into a Michigan mobile home park and sexually assaulting two 
young girls.
  In May, authorities arrested a 20-year-old illegal alien for 
allegedly snatching an 11-year-old girl off the street in front of her 
Lake Worth, Florida, home and sexually assaulting her. According to 
local officials, the Guatemalan national crossed the U.S.-Mexico border 
in early January, made his way to Florida shortly afterward, and does 
not have an immigration court date until 2027.
  That is Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' immigration legacy: more 
unvetted aliens released into American communities, more criminal 
aliens on American streets, and more Americans endangered by radical, 
reckless policies.
  Kamala Harris' war on women is fueled by her open-border policies, 
which allow more sexual offenders, domestic violence offenders, and 
child abusers not only into the country but also to remain in the 
country indefinitely, free from fear of deportation.
  The American people can end this nightmare in just 2 months. If 
voters choose to end this crisis, Republicans have proposed new laws 
that will allow the next President to secure the border and increase 
interior immigration enforcement on day one.
  H.R. 7909 is just one of many of those bills. H.R. 7909, the Violence 
Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, makes crystal clear that illegal 
aliens who commit sex offenses are inadmissible to and removable from 
the United States.
  The bill also fixes a discrepancy in current immigration law by 
creating a ground of inadmissibility for domestic violence to mirror 
the existing ground of removability for the same offenses. In addition, 
the bill expands the current ground of inadmissibility for domestic 
violence by cross-referencing the existing statutory definition for sex 
offenses.

  Although many aliens can already be found inadmissible to and 
removable from the United States for certain sex offenses and domestic 
violence offenses, H.R. 7909 expands and clarifies the conduct for 
which an alien can be found removable from the country.
  The time is now to take seriously the danger of criminal aliens in 
the United States. Anything that makes it easier for adjudicators and 
officials to ensure a criminal alien's arrest and removal should 
receive overwhelming bipartisan support, particularly when it comes to 
sex offenses and domestic violence.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Violence Against 
Women by Illegal Aliens Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1615

  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I must say I find the gentlewoman's 
references to the Harris or the Biden-Harris war on women ironic coming 
from the Representative of a political party, the Republican Party, 
whose abortion policies have caused countless women to die, to bleed 
out while the doctors wait to operate, fearing felonies because of the 
anti-abortion laws in various States.
  I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal), a 
distinguished member of the Judiciary Committee.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, here we are again, debating another 
partisan bill that promotes fearmongering about immigrants, instead of 
working together to fix the immigration system.
  I probably shouldn't be too surprised. Scapegoating immigrants and 
attempting to weaponize the crime of domestic violence is appearing to 
be a time-honored tradition for Republicans.
  The Trump administration reversed protections for asylum seekers who 
were fleeing unspeakable domestic violence in their home countries, and 
that is exactly what will happen again under another Trump Presidency 
as described in Trump's Project 2025.
  Aminta Cifuentes is emblematic of the many survivors of gender-based 
violence who would be harmed by this legislation.
  For over 10 years, Aminta Cifuentes' husband beat, raped, and 
tormented her. He tried to set her on fire. It resulted in her 
permanent hearing loss. He once hit her so hard that she gave birth 
prematurely, and she still has difficulty breathing and speaking.
  Ms. Cifuentes tried to get protection from Guatemalan law enforcement 
multiple times, but the police dismissed her complaints as marital 
problems.
  When she tried to leave her husband, he hunted her down. She finally 
fled to the United States where even here, her husband's threats still 
followed her.
  This is exactly the kind of person that apparently my Republican 
colleagues do not think deserves protection.
  Back in 2013 when the Senate passed its bipartisan comprehensive 
immigration reform legislation with 68 votes, it was then blocked by 
the Republican Speaker of the House because he knew that it would pass 
if it were to come to a vote.
  That legislation would have legalized 10 million people, updated the 
legal immigration system, and added significant amounts of new 
enforcement.
  One of the provisions that was forced in by Senate Republicans 
actually included a section making the crime of domestic violence a new 
inadmissibility ground.
  We supported that provision because it also contained important 
exceptions to protect survivors of domestic violence. There are 
absolutely no such protections in this legislation.
  This misguided bill would take the Violence Against Women Act 
definition of domestic violence and weaponize it into grounds for 
deportation.
  Let me be clear: VAWA, or the Violence Against Women Act, is landmark 
legislation, and it is actually a testament to a time when Democrats 
and Republicans could come together and legislate on issues of 
fundamental importance to this Nation, despite our differences.
  The initial iteration of VAWA passed the House by voice vote. It was 
a significant law. It reshaped how we as a country talk about gender-
based violence and how we treat survivors.
  Now, we have to fight tooth and nail to reauthorize it, and 
Republicans regularly let it languish, expired now for 3 years.
  While VAWA is a great law, its definition was never meant to capture 
criminal conduct. In fact, it explicitly says in the definition itself 
that it intends to capture conduct that may or may not be criminal.
  There is a reason that advocacy organizations for domestic violence 
survivors are coming out in droves to oppose this legislation.
  They know how this expanded definition will harm survivors and create 
a chilling effect for reporting future crimes.
  There are so many reasons why individuals in domestic violence 
situations

[[Page H5357]]

are forced into the criminal legal system.
  Too often, survivors are arrested alongside their abuser, and they 
are charged and even convicted of crimes involving violence. Using this 
definition makes it more likely that we harm the very people that we 
want to protect.
  In that same vein, this bill also has no waivers or exceptions. Under 
current law, any crime involving moral turpitude, which would cover 
much of the conduct in this bill, is eligible for a waiver if the 
individual can meet very strict criteria.
  Current law also has specific and important options for waivers for 
survivors when dealing with a conviction for domestic violence or 
stalking.
  These allow the government to waive a conviction if certain criteria 
are met, including showing that the individual was not the primary 
perpetrator, and that the crime was committed in self-defense.
  Unfortunately, the Republican majority is attempting to add a new 
inadmissibility ground, and they don't even require a conviction or 
include any waivers. This makes absolutely no sense.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Washington.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. As it is, domestic violence survivors say that these 
waivers are not as strong as they could be, but to not include them at 
all shows a shocking lack of empathy and understanding of what 
survivors of domestic violence experience.
  I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering that this is the same 
party supporting a man who was found liable for sexual assault and 
bragged about grabbing and forcibly kissing women without their 
consent.
  Last week, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of VAWA's enactment, 
and now, as Trump's Project 2025 threatens to decimate key protections 
enshrined in VAWA, congressional Republicans are attempting to contort 
the law to hurt the very people it was designed to protect. What a 
disgrace.

  I urge my colleagues to oppose this misleading bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The chair would remind Members to refrain 
from engaging in personalities toward nominees for the Office of 
President.
  Ms. LEE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from South Carolina (Ms. Mace).
  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Jim Jordan for his 
leadership.
  I find the debate on my bill, the Violence Against Women by Illegal 
Aliens Act, shameful. I, myself, am a survivor of rape. I understand 
the lifelong trauma as someone who has survived rape, as someone who 
has been in a domestic violence situation where I was also the victim.
  I don't want to hear it. If you are here illegally at all, you should 
be gone. Today, we are only dealing with a very limited number of 
issues, meaning the worst of the worst, the criminal illegal aliens who 
are here illegally, committing some of the worst crimes against women 
and underage girls.
  Joe Biden and border czar Kamala Harris have opened the floodgates, 
welcoming countless criminal illegal aliens into our country to prey 
upon American women and American girls.
  Thanks to the policies of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, these criminal 
illegal aliens who have no business, they have no right to step foot 
into our country now roam the streets of our communities, inflicting 
senseless acts of sexual and domestic violence and murder while they 
hurt American women and girls.
  These Biden-Harris criminal illegal aliens have molested American 
children, battered and bruised American spouses, and violently raped 
American women and girls.
  In April 2022, an illegal alien was arrested in my home State of 
South Carolina for sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl, after being 
previously deported not once but twice.
  In May of 2022, an illegal alien and Guatemalan national raped and 
impregnated a 9-year-old girl in Ohio.
  In April 2023, an illegal alien broke into a woman's house in Indiana 
in the middle of the night, physically assaulted her, and held a box 
cutter to her throat while he raped her.
  In July 2023, an illegal alien and Honduran national raped a 13-year-
old girl in neighboring Virginia, just 25 miles from where we stand 
today.
  In March of this year, an illegal alien followed a woman from a train 
station, grabbed her, robbed her, and sexually assaulted her.
  On March 25th of this year, an illegal alien was arrested and charged 
with raping a mentally incapacitated 14-year-old girl in Alabama.
  On May 13th of this year, a serial rapist illegal alien was arrested 
in California for raping two women in a van which authorities referred 
to as his ``rape dungeon on wheels.''
  In April of this year, an illegal alien was charged after breaking 
into a mobile home in Michigan and viciously sexually assaulting two 
young girls under the age of 13.
  In May of this year, an illegal alien abducted an 11-year-old girl in 
Florida, forcing her into his van and brutally raping her.
  On June 17th of this year, two illegal aliens raped and strangled 12-
year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Texas.
  Just last month, an illegal alien was arrested after raping a 10-
year-old boy in Mississippi.
  Earlier this month, an illegal alien convicted of a violent assault 
in Massachusetts was released and went on to rape a child.
  This is hardly an exhaustive list. We see more tragedies like these 
with every passing week. The blood and the physical and emotional scars 
of these tragedies rest on the hands of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. 
Not only has the Biden-Harris administration caused this problem, they 
are actively enabling it.
  Listen to this. In a September of 2021 memo, Secretary Mayorkas 
specifically argued domestic violence shouldn't be categorical grounds 
to apprehend and remove an illegal alien. How many American women and 
girls have been battered and bloodied due to this insanity?
  Under my bill, any illegal alien who commits a sex crime or act of 
domestic violence is inadmissible to our country and immediately 
deportable.
  We shouldn't let them into our country under any circumstances, and 
if we catch them, we send them back. They have to go.
  As a survivor of rape, I know firsthand the devastating toll these 
heinous acts can take on a woman and the lifelong scars and the 
lifelong trauma that they leave behind. One woman or one child violated 
by an illegal alien is one too many.
  Each and every sex crime or act of domestic violence committed by an 
illegal alien was preventable. They have no single right to be here 
today.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to put politics aside 
and protect American women and children from being victimized by 
criminal illegal aliens.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded again to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President and the Vice President.
  Ms. LEE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Molinaro).
  Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Speaker, I too rise in support of the Violence 
Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act. Since President Biden took office, 
over 11 million individuals have come into this country illegally. 
Hundreds of thousands of these illegal immigrants have come to New York 
State.
  Thanks to sanctuary city policies established both in the city of New 
York and in the State of New York, the Governor of New York allowed the 
mayor of the city to transport illegal immigrants to hotels and motels 
across upstate New York, forcing Democrats and Republicans to take 
executive action to block this action.

  Just in the past year alone, upstate New York has seen several 
heinous crimes committed against women by illegal immigrants.
  To name just a few, in June, a Turkish migrant raped a 14-year-old 
girl in Albany after attacking her inside her vehicle.
  A migrant from Ecuador suffocated a woman in Syracuse on her 21st 
birthday and then hid her body in a community park.
  In Delaware County, New York, an illegal immigrant raped and 
strangled a

[[Page H5358]]

woman. To make matters worse, this illegal immigrant was out on 
Governor Hochul's cashless bail for previously raping someone.
  One instance of a woman being raped or assaulted should be enough and 
should have been enough for President Biden and Vice President Harris 
to take executive action to close the border.
  The Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act will ensure that 
these evil individuals, these criminals, are arrested and deported.
  I urge my colleagues to support the bill so that we can remove any 
illegal immigrant who commits awful crimes against women.
  Ms. LEE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill does not close any gaps in the law, does not 
fix any of the myriad problems with our immigration system or the 
southern border, and would actually harm the very people it purports to 
protect.
  It is another excuse for the Republican majority to play politics 
with immigration without doing any of the hard work involved in finding 
bipartisan solutions.
  I urge Members to oppose this bill, and I yield back the balance of 
my time.

                              {time}  1630

  Ms. LEE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Democrats assert today that this 
bill is unnecessary, but that ignores the clear reality of the crisis 
affecting our southern border and how it has affected those who are 
victims of these crimes in our country.
  Take, for example, the fact that under current immigration law, there 
is no explicit ground for inadmissibility of illegal aliens who commit 
domestic violence offenses, despite a ground of removability for such 
aliens.
  Consider that despite certain sex offenses making aliens removable 
from the country, there is currently not a ground of inadmissibility or 
removability for certain sex offenses.
  The Biden-Harris administration's war on women must come to an end. 
H.R. 7909 is one step toward that. Making people inadmissible to and 
removable from the United States because they have committed a sex 
offense or a domestic violence offense should be something that even 
open-border Democrats can agree with us on.
  The Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act is a 
straightforward, commonsense bill that I urge my colleagues to support.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 1455, the previous question is ordered 
on the bill, as amended.
  The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on passage of the bill.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Ms. LEE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

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