48 House Democrats Joined the GOP to Vote to Expand Mandatory Immigration Detention

Earlier today, House Republicans passed their first bill of the new Congress, and in what should come as no surprise, it was an attack on immigrants.

The bill, which they passed a year ago, would mandate that any undocumented immigrant accused of shoplifting or other minor crimes be put into federal detention, with no regard for whether a judge actually believes someone poses a threat to the community or is a flight risk. As Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY-12) remarked in pointed comments on the House floor last year: “Let’s think about that. Someone who is arrested but who is never even charged is now going to be subject to mandatory immigration detention.”

The ACLU came out quickly with a statement condemning the bill: “This is the first immigration bill of the new Congress, and if passed, it will strengthen President-elect Trump’s hand in unleashing mass deportations on our communities. It will force immigration authorities to detain individuals accused of nonviolent theft offenses like shoplifting regardless of whether or not law enforcement even deems them as a threat. Mandating mass detention will make us less safe, sapping resources and diverting taxpayer money away from addressing public safety needs. Detaining a mother who admits to shoplifting diapers for her baby, or elderly individuals who admit to nonviolent theft when they were teenagers, is wasteful, cruel, and unnecessary.” (emphasis added)

As I wrote last year, “That combination of harsh treatment without due process, abandonment of Congressional process, and generally repugnant xenophobia should have been a deal-breaker for Democrats.” But alas…

Instead, 48 Democrats joined House Republicans to vote for it. You can see the list of the 48 below.

When the House voted for this same bill a year ago, only 37 Democrats voted for it.

20 Democrats voted for the bill this year who did not last year.

• 6: Six Democrats — Brendan Boyle, Val Hoyle, Lucy McBath, Joe Morelle, Terri Sewell, and Ritchie Torres — voted against the bill last year but flipped to support it.
• +1: Jared Moskowitz was absent for last year’s vote.
• +1 Shomari Rigures represents a newly drawn seat.
• +7: Seven Democrats — Janelle Bynum, Laura GIllen, Adam Gray, John Mannion, Josh Riley, Derek Tran, and George Whitesides — are first-years who flipped districts last November.
• +4: Maggie Goodlander, April McClain Delaney, Kristen McDonald Rivet, and Suhas Subramanyam succeeded Democrats who had, to the contrary, voted against the bill last year. What a downgrade. They replaced, respectively, Annie Kuster, David Trone, Dan Kildee, and Jennifer Wexton.
• +1: David Min succeeds Katie Porter, who was absent for last year’s vote.

9 Democrats who voted for the bill last year are no longer in the House.

• -4: Yadira Caraveo, Matt Cartwright, Mary Peltola, and Susan Wild lost re-election.
• -1: Colin Allred ran for US Senate. Julie Johnson, his successor, voted against the bill.
• -1: Elissa Slotkin ran for US Senate (and won). Her seat flipped to a Republican.
• -1: Ruben Gallego ran for US Senate (and won). Yassamin Ansari, his successor, voted against the bill.
• -1: Jeff Jackson ran for AG in North Carolina. His seat was gerrymandered to be a Republican seat.
• -1: Josh Gottheimer voted for it last year but was not present for today’s vote.