The Moore You Know Column: Zero Tolerance: Deporting Drunk-Driving Illegals Before More Lives Are Lost

Guest Opinion by Congressman Barry Moore (R-AL1)

Every American citizen should be able to drive to work, church, or school without worrying about whether someone here illegally - someone who has already broken our laws - is going to put them in harm’s way on our roads. Unfortunately, thanks to the border crisis championed by Democrats, that’s not the reality.  

Every day, criminal illegal aliens who have no business being in this country are driving under the influence, putting innocent families in danger. That’s why my bill H.R. 875, the Jeremy and Angel Seay and Sergeant Brandon Mendoza Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act, passed the House of Representatives this week. My legislation is a common-sense solution that requires the federal government to deport any illegal immigrant convicted of a DUI and make them inadmissible to our country. 

This legislation shouldn’t be controversial. In Alabama and across the country, many families have lost loved ones because someone got behind the wheel impaired. My constituents, a newlywed couple from Enterprise, were driving down the highway on their motorcycle with their whole lives ahead of them. In a second, their lives were taken from them when an illegal with a criminal history, hit them with his pickup truck and fled the scene.  

Another tragedy took place across the country in Arizona when Sergeant Brandon Mendoza was hit and killed in a head-on collision with an illegal driving the wrong way. The illegal who hit Sergeant Mendoza had a criminal record, and police records indicate his blood-alcohol content was 0.24% at the time of the crash, more than twice the legal limit.  

Democrats have largely turned a blind eye to this crisis; 160 Democrats even voted against my common-sense legislation. We saw historic levels of illegal crossings at the southern border - over 10 million encounters under Biden’s watch – it is also estimated that around 617,000 criminal aliens are freely roaming around the United States due to the prior Administration’s open border policies.   

My bill puts an end to that madness. If you are here illegally and you get caught driving impaired, this bill ensures you can’t put any more Americans at risk. This is about deterrence, accountability, and putting American families first. No second chances. No sanctuary city loopholes. Just the rule of law. 

I’m proud that my bill is part of a broader push by House Republicans to restore law and order and defend our borders. Under President Trump’s leadership, we’re bringing forward bold, America First legislation to protect families, uphold the Constitution, and put criminals - whether homegrown or foreign - on notice. 

The safety of our communities isn’t negotiable. I’ll fight every day to make sure Alabama families, and families across the country, can live in a nation where the consequences of endangering others are swift and certain. 

I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues and President Trump to get the Jeremy and Angel Seay and Brandon Mendoza Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act across the finish line.  

If you need help from my office with the VA, IRS, or another federal agency, or with a government service like passport processing, please reach out to us. We’ve resolved over 6,500 cases since I took office in 2021. Visit one of my offices in Dothan, Andalusia, Mobile, Foley, Bay Minette or Washington, call us at 334-478- 6630, or visit http://barrymoore.house.gov to learn how we can help.