•      "This bill will sweep in green card holders, those seeking to come to the U.S. lawfully, and DACA and TPS recipients, as well as those who are undocumented. No one condones domestic violence or sexual offenses. People who commit those heinous crimes have no place in our society. That is why people who commit such crimes are already inadmissible and removable. Right now, people who commit or are convicted of the “sexual offenses” discussed in this bill are not admissible to the country and are subject to deportation. Those sections of the bill are almost entirely redundant to current law. Likewise, people can be deportable if they are convicted of domestic violence and can be deemed inadmissible if they are convicted of or admit to committing a crime that includes the intent to cause bodily harm. The crime of domestic violence is well covered by current law. However, this bill attempts to significantly expand the definition of domestic violence to include the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) definition, which is used for grants and funding. This is a much broader definition that was 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." Source: Opposition Fact Sheet published by the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary - Democrats

•      "By layering immigration consequences onto the existing challenges of talking about domestic abuse, this legislation will almost certainly create a chilling effect in immigrant communities with regard to the reporting of crimes of domestic violence. Further, this bill attempts to create a new ground of inadmissibility for domestic violence which does not require a conviction and does not have any of the exceptions that currently exist in the deportability grounds. Under current law, when an individual is convicted of domestic violence or stalking, and therefore becomes deportable, there are exceptions if the government finds that the individual is not the primary perpetrator, was acting in self-defense, or the crime did not result in serious bodily injury.  While domestic violence advocates have concerns about the effectiveness of these waivers, such waivers are not even an option in the new inadmissibility grounds under this bill, which means it would certainly lead to survivors being deemed inadmissible, given the expansive definition and no conviction requirement." Source: Rep. Jerry Nadler (Democrat, New York, District 12) in a Press Release