Representative Cook VOTES
Combat MS-13 Gang H.R. BILL
In the House of Representatives,
Congressman Paul Cook (R-Apple Valley) voted for H.R. 3697, the Criminal Alien
Gang Member Removal Act in September 2017. The Bill passed the House by a margin of 233-175.
The U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has found that membership
of violent transnational gangs is comprised largely of foreign-born nationals.
According to the Department of Justice, MS-13, a
transnational gang that is notoriously violent and comprised of members mostly
from Central America, has 10,000 members inside the United States and 40,000
members worldwide. MS-13 engages in gang activities in at least 40 states.
Their members are known to be extremely violent, often killing their victims
with machetes.
Currently, it is
not possible to deport gang members until they are convicted of an independent
crime. This H.R. 3697 Bill ensures that
criminal alien gang members are not eligible for immigration benefits such as
asylum, special immigrant juvenile status, and temporary protected status, and
includes provisions to detain and remove criminal gang members or those who
participate in gang activity.
Specifically, this
legislation defines a criminal gang as a group of five or more individuals whose primary purpose is to commit one or more of the following offenses: a
felony drug offense, importing or harboring aliens, a crime of violence,
obstruction of justice, fraud, or conspiracy to commit an offense. The Bill prohibits aliens who have been associated with
a criminal gang from entering the country and establishes that an alien in the
United States who is associated with a criminal gang is deportable
Congressman Paul
Cook states, “The most important job of the federal government is to keep Americans
safe. We are a Nation of immigrants, but we must not reward violent gang
members such as those in MS-13 who break our laws and threaten the safety of
our communities. This is common-sense legislation that fixes a dangerous
loophole in our immigration laws. I look forward to it becoming law.”
A member of the House Armed Services,
Natural Resources, and Foreign Affairs Committees, Cook served as an infantry
officer and retired after 26 years as a Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps.
During his time in combat, he was awarded the Bronze Star and two Purple
Hearts.