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House Republicans have voted against an effort to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from deporting or detaining U.S. citizens, per Newsweek.
During a House Judiciary Committee meeting on Wednesday (April 30), Democrats introduced amendments to President Donald Trump's sweeping budget bill.
Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal brought forth a measure to make it clear that ICE cannot deport or detain U.S. citizens under any circumstances.
"My amendment is simple, and I hope that it has bipartisan support. It simply states that none of the funds in this bill may be used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain or deport U.S. citizens. Whether you're a Democrat or Republican, I hope we can all agree that U.S. citizens should never be detained by ICE or any agency conducting civil immigration enforcement. They certainly should not be deported," Jayapal said.
GOP lawmakers voted against the amendment.
Jayapal introduced the amendment after Trump floated the idea last month of sending U.S. citizens convicted of violent crimes to El Salvador.
"We have some horrible criminals, American grown, born," Trump previously told reporters on Air Force One, noting that he's "all for" sending them to prisons in El Salvador. "I don't know what the law says on that."
On Wednesday, Democratic Representative Ted Lieu said in a statement: "The fact that Democrats and my colleague Representative Pramila Jayapal feel the need to even introduce an amendment that says ICE cannot deport U.S. citizens is bats**t crazy."
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