Should a DUI be grounds for barred U.S. entry or deportation?

Crime and Law Enforcement (e.g., Gun Laws) Immigration
Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act (H.R. 875)
This bill has Passed the House of Representatives
Bill Summary

H.R. 875 establishes driving under the influence (DUI) as a grounds for barred admission or deportation of non-U.S. nationals (“aliens” under federal law). For prohibited entrance into the U.S., a non-U.S. national must have either received a conviction or admitted to the offense. For deportation from the U.S., the individual must have been convicted. Sponsor: Rep. Barry Moore (Republican, Alabama, District 1)
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Opponents say

•    "We find no statistically significant relationship between the illegal immigrant population on the state level and drunk driving deaths. This means that states with a higher illegal immigrant share of the population did not have more drunk driving deaths during the 2010–2019 period, all else being equal. Similarly, there is no statistically significant relationship between the share of the illegal immigrant population and traffic death rate. This result is very similar to our earlier findings for the 2017–2019 period, which is evidence that those results were not a fluke but were instead representative of the general relationship between illegal immigration and the drunk driving death rate." Source: The Cato Institute


•    "Whether undocumented immigration jeopardizes public health is an important question at the center of contemporary debates on unauthorized immigration. These debates are certain to continue, but they should do so informed by the available evidence, and our study speaks directly to this controversy. Our study does not contradict assertions that drugs are smuggled across the US border (they are) or that individual undocumented immigrants have been arrested for drunk driving (they have). Our findings do, however, significantly undermine arguments that the public is at greater risk for DUI or drug problems as a result of undocumented immigration. If anything, they suggest the opposite. Thus, public resources should be directed toward effective prevention and intervention efforts to reduce drug and alcohol problems, such as those supported by the CDC, rather than channeled to concerns unsupported by empirical evidence." Source: National Library of Medicine

Proponents say

•    "Every 45 minutes–that is how often someone in the United States dies in a crash with an alcohol-impaired driver. In 2022 alone, there were 13,524 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities and 400,000 injuries. Those crashes don't discriminate. It could me, it could be you, could be one of our family members. This issue hits close to home for me. There was a newlywed couple from my hometown of Enterprise named Angel and Jeremy Seay, I knew this couple personally. Angel and Jeremy were riding their motorcycle together when out of nowhere an illegal immigrant under the influence of alcohol plowed into them with his pick-up truck. Their lives were cut short, and unfortunately tragedies like this one are not uncommon across our country." Source: Rep. Barry Moore (Republican, Alabama, District 1)


•    "Rep. Barry Moore’s Protect Communities from DUIs Act is important legislation to protect citizens from the consequences of the Biden-Harris Administration’s open border policies. Unfortunately, countless Americans across the country are injured or killed in DUI accidents caused by illegal aliens. It’s a no-brainer to deport criminal aliens who put innocent American lives at risk with reckless and impaired driving. This is about protecting families, holding criminals accountable, and advancing President Trump’s vision of a nation that prioritizes safety, sovereignty, and justice for its citizens." Source: Rep. Harriet Hageman (Republican, Wyoming, District At-Large)


•    "The Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act, introduced by Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL), closes a gaping loophole in U.S. immigration law related to drunk driving. Because there is neither a ground of inadmissibility nor a ground of removability explicitly related to driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs, criminal aliens currently can escape accountability for their reckless actions and be free to re-offend and endanger communities. By creating a ground of inadmissibility and a ground of removability for aliens who have committed DUI offenses, this legislation provides long-awaited and much-needed reforms to safeguard American communities." Source: Rep. August Pfluger (Republican, Texas, District 11)

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