A invoice launched by Alabama Republican Rep. Barry Moore that will permit for the deportation of undocumented immigrants convicted of driving below the affect has handed the GOP-controlled U.S. Home of Representatives.
The invoice, formally titled “The Jeremy and Angel Seay and Sergeant Brandon Mendoza Defend Our Communities from DUIs Act of 2025”, cleared the Home final Thursday with a 245–160 vote. Thirty-seven Democrats crossed the aisle to help the measure, which now heads to the Senate. If permitted there, it’s going to go to President Donald Trump for ultimate approval.
Although launched by a lawmaker from Alabama, the invoice has implications for immigrant communities throughout the nation, together with in states like Florida, which has a big Caribbean immigrant inhabitants. The proposed regulation would mandate the deportation of any undocumented immigrant convicted of DUI and would additionally render them completely ineligible for reentry into the US.
According to the bill, “any alien who has been convicted of… an offense for driving whereas below the affect… is inadmissible” — a authorized time period that, below U.S. immigration regulation, bars people from getting into or reentering the nation.
“Right now, we think about a easy commonsense invoice that claims in case you’re a visitor in our nation and also you drive drunk, it’s best to in actual fact be deported,” Moore mentioned from the Home flooring. “Now, to the typical American, passing this invoice is a no brainer. Even in a polarized time, Democrats ought to be capable of be a part of Republicans and unanimously help such cheap laws.”
The invoice is called after three people—Jeremy and Angel Seay, a newlywed couple from Enterprise, Alabama, and Arizona police officer Sergeant Brandon Mendoza—all of whom have been killed in accidents involving undocumented immigrants convicted of DUI. Moore beforehand launched the same invoice in 2024, which additionally handed the Home however failed within the Senate.
“160 Democrats simply voted in opposition to defending American households from illegals who drive below the affect,” Moore tweeted following Thursday’s vote, sharing clips of flooring debate and statements from victims’ households.
In line with the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration, greater than 13,000 alcohol-related driving deaths have been reported in 2021, although it stays unclear what proportion of these concerned undocumented people. The proposed regulation wouldn’t apply retroactively and would solely have an effect on non-citizens convicted of DUI offenses after the regulation takes impact.
The invoice’s future now rests within the palms of the U.S. Senate.
