(Headline USA) The GOP-led House of Representatives voted this week to pass a bill that would make driving while intoxicated or impaired a deportable offense—despite opposition from 150 Democrats.
The bill, titled the Protect Communities from DUIs Act, cleared the chamber in a 274-150 vote. The only votes against it were from Democrats.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., shared the story of a couple he knew personally, Angel and Jeremy Seay, who were killed in a drunken driving accident in his hometown of Enterprise, Ala., after they were struck by an illegal immigrant.
“Angel and Jeremy were riding their motorcycle together when an illegal immigrant under the influence of alcohol collided into them with his pickup,” Moore recounted.
“Their lives were cut dramatically short,” he continued. “Sadly, tragedies like this are not uncommon across our country.”
The bill sought to clarify any discrepancies between state and federal law over whether an illegal immigrant convicted of DUI charges could be deported.
“The bar to admission shall apply to an individual who has been convicted of the offense or has admitted to having committed the acts which constitute the elements of the offense,” it said. “As a ground for deportability, the individual must have been convicted of the offense.”
Fifty-nine Democrats voted with Republicans in support of the bill, but as former President Donald Trump’s campaign pointed out, they were the minority. Even President Joe Biden said during the 2020 campaign that he did not think drunken driving should be a deportable offense.
“You only arrest for the purpose of dealing with a felony that’s committed, and I don’t consider drunk driving as a felony,” Biden said at the time.
Highlighting a tweet about the Democrats who refused to vote for the measure, billionaire Elon Musk wrote, “What the heck is going on!?”
What the heck is going on!? https://t.co/7wbNrzt2R6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2024
The vote comes just days after two Democrats—“Squad” Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.—voted against a bill to ban Hamas terrorists from the U.S.
