Rep. Greg Lopez, R-Colo., introduced legislation to detain and deport illegal immigrants with known gang affiliations.
"The federal government has a responsibility to protect American citizens from international threats, including the spread of Tren de Aragua and other foreign gangs," Lopez said Thursday in a statement about the Detain and Deport Gang Members Act of 2024.
Lopez called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to take action.
"It is unacceptable that the Biden-Harris administration and liberal local leaders across this country have implemented America-last policies which allow violent foreign gangs to wreak havoc on our communities," Lopez said.
The legislation comes amid reports of people with Venezuelan gang affiliations taking over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado.
Lopez said that that is an example of how the "crime and chaos that originates in sanctuary cities inevitably spills into neighboring communities."
"It is time for leaders of every level of government to eliminate the hotbeds of trafficking, fentanyl, and gang violence that exist in every sanctuary city," Lopez added. "It is time to detain and deport illegal aliens with gang affiliations, not retain and support them.
"The American people deserve better than a government which prioritizes the comfort of illegal immigrants over the safety of its own people."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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