- The Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act passed on a 274-150 vote Thursday
- 59 Democrats joined Republicans to send the bill to the Senate
- Rep. Barry Moore of Alabama introduced the bill in January
The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would allow law enforcement to deport illegal immigrants caught driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The measure passed with the support of 274 lawmakers, but as many as 150 Democrats voted against it.
The Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to ensure that illegal immigrants caught driving under the influence can be deported and barred from entering the U.S.
“Every 45 minutes in the United States, someone dies in a crash involving an impaired driver,” said Rep. Barry Moore, who introduced the bill. told Fox News.
“I lost two of my young, newlywed voters to an illegal immigrant who drove under the influence of alcohol.”
A group of migrants from different countries cross a road in Eagle Pass, Texas
‘Angel and Jeremy were riding a motorcycle together when, out of nowhere, an illegal alien, under the influence of alcohol, crashed his pickup truck into the newlyweds. Their lives were dramatically cut short,” Moore said in the House of Representatives on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, tragedies like this are not uncommon in our country,” he continued. “Consider this case from Missouri, where just two months ago an illegal alien from Honduras was convicted of driving 100 miles per hour and killing a man.”
Response to a report about the 150 Democrats who voted against the bill was astonished Elon Musk posted on X“What the hell is going on!?”
In December, an illegal migrant from El Salvador, who had previously been deported from the U.S. four times, was accused of killing a Colorado mother and her son in a crash involving alcohol. according to local news channel KDVR.
Melissa Powell, 47, and her son, Riordan Powell, 16, were both killed in the crash.
Police in Brownsville, Texas, clear the roads after a fatal car crash involving migrants
Republicans and Democrats voted in favor of the bill Thursday morning
The migrant, Jose Guadalupe Menjivar-Alas, was estimated to be traveling at 100 miles per hour at the time of the fatal crash.
According to Colorado court records, the migrant had been convicted four times for alcohol-related driving violations.
“If you are a guest in this country and drive drunk, you should be removed from our country,” Moore said Thursday.
The passage comes as immigration policy has received significant attention from lawmakers.
In January, House Speaker Mike Johnson led a delegation of Republicans to Eagle Pass, Texas, to witness the border crisis firsthand.
“The situation here and across the country is truly unconscionable,” Johnson said at the time. “We would describe it as heartbreaking and infuriating.”
The Senate is currently negotiating its own immigration deal, but President Johnson has repeatedly said the package is dead on arrival in the House of Representatives.