An existing law goes unenforced
Cuellar, while backing Babin’s bill, said there is already a law on the books that the U.S. could enforce and clean up the mess with uncooperative nations.
While it doesn’t cut funding to those nations like Babin’s bill would, the existing law allows the U.S. to hold the visas of foreign nationals from nations not cooperating with ICE on criminal deportations.
“We found out that there’s a law already that allows us to hold those visas if a country’s not planning to take back their criminals,” he said in the Full Measure interview.
“We’re not enforcing it, which is amazing,” he added. “So now my intent is to go back to our committee on appropriations and affect their funding until they do that.”
What do YOU think? Sound off in today’s WND poll on nations refusing to take back criminal citizens.
Because of the Supreme Court decision, “that means you’re releasing criminals into our streets because those countries refuse to take back those criminal aliens. That’s wrong,” Cuellar said. “And especially I think it’s even worse that this is already on the books, and we’re still issuing business tourist visas and student visas to countries that refuse to take back their criminal aliens. That’s wrong, and we’re hoping to change that.
So why does the U.S. not enforce an existing law that would provide a measure of pay-back to uncooperative nations? Cuellar lays the blame at the feet of the U.S State Department.
“… I’ve been working on this issue and they said ‘well you know you gotta understand diplomacy, we don’t wanna upset some of those countries,'” Cuellar told Attkisson.
“But my response is, but we can upset our constituents, we can upset our way of life that we have here by allowing those criminals to be released? And basically the response from the State Department is because you have to work with the State Department and Homeland Security. And the State Department, with all due respect, was focused on diplomacy. I understand that, but I’m also concerned about individuals here who are in their neighborhoods; and you can release a criminal because we can’t hold them anymore and that county refuses to take back that criminal alien.”
Cuellar says he plans to press for the U.S. to withhold visas from countries that won’t accept the return of their criminals.