WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Thune (R-SD), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the Reverse Entry for Migrant Offenders and Violence Expulsion (REMOVE) Act, legislation that would close a loophole that currently allows dangerous illegal immigrants and non-citizens convicted of kidnapping or sexual assault to remain in the United States. 

“Those who come across our border illegally and commit violent crimes like kidnapping and sexual assault should be deported,” said Senator Tillis. “Current law does not clearly establish that human smuggling and kidnapping are grounds for deportation, and it’s time that Congress corrects this problem. I am proud to introduce this commonsense legislation with my colleagues because human smuggling, kidnapping, and assault by dangerous illegal immigrants happen every day, and this legislation is way overdue.”

Over the years, portions of the federal criminal code have been ruled to be unconstitutionally vague by the Supreme Court. Criminal defendants have successfully sought relief from long sentences on the grounds that the statutory definitions of their crimes gave insufficient notice of their actions’ consequences. In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in Sessions v. Dimaya that a residual or “catchall” provision of the criminal code (18 USC § 16(b)) incorporated into the Immigration and Nationality Act was unconstitutionally vague. The result in Sessions v. Dimaya was that a noncitizen criminal defendant convicted under 16(b) could not be deported, which the REMOVE Act seeks to correct.

Read the full bill text here. 

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