All Illegal Migrants Who Identify as LGBTQ Could Avoid Detainment Under Democrat-Led Legislation

Congressional Democrats introduced legislation that would prevent U.S. Border Patrol agents from detaining illegal migrants if they declare themselves LGBTQ+.

The ‘Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act,’ which was introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), has a provision for groups labeled “vulnerable persons” that prevents any detention at all.

Anyone who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex would qualify as a “vulnerable person” in the proposed legislation.

Other vulnerable populations in the bill include asylum seekers, pregnant women, survivors of torture or gender-based violence, and people under age 21.

Fox News explained:

Under the legislation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could arrest illegal aliens and either release them on bond or detain them while a decision is made on whether to remove them from the country. The bill sets out new rules on detention that favor aliens.

For example, officials would have to decide within 48 hours whether to detain an alien, and could only detain them after a determination that “the release of an alien will not reasonably ensure the appearance of the alien as required or will endanger the safety” of others. In those cases, DHS “shall impose the least restrictive conditions” for detention, and ensure they get a custody hearing within 72 hours. And in those hearings, “there shall be a presumption that the alien should be released,” the bill said.

But the bill goes further by seeking to exempt several groups of illegal aliens from any detention at all. It creates a “special rule for vulnerable persons and primary caregivers,” and says these aliens “may not be detained” unless DHS can demonstrate that it is “unreasonable or not practicable to place the alien in a community-based supervision program.”

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Under the bill, “vulnerable person” is defined as anyone who is under 21 or older than 60, pregnant, or who “identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex.” Other vulnerable aliens are those who are a victim of or witness to a crime, anyone who has filed a nonfrivolous civil rights claim in court, anyone with a workplace claim, and those with a “serious mental or physical illness or disability.”

Aliens with a credible fear of persecution, “limited English language proficiency,” those experiencing “severe trauma,” and survivors of “torture or gender-based violence” also meet the definition of a “vulnerable person” for which DHS must take extra steps before detaining.

Several Border Patrol agents spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation and said all illegal migrants would simply identify as LGBTQ+ to avoid detainment.

The agents agreed that this legislation, if it passed, would encourage migrants to lie about their sexuality and gender identity to enter the country.

“I’ve only seen a handful of LGBTQ [migrants], but if this is passed I guarantee everyone is going to be LGBTQ,” one agent said.

“Someone told them in essence ‘just say you’re gay,’” another agent told DCNF.

From Daily Caller:

The text of the bill states that the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the only authority that can make an exception to choose to keep an LGBTQ migrant in detention.

All of the Border Patrol agents who spoke to the DCNF predicted migrants would abuse the bill’s authority, if it’s passed into law, to ensure they’re not detained.

“I feel like it’s just another incentive or tool for them to use to get into our country, with no restrictions. They would be backed by our own government approval, which will only encourage more illegal entry and a reason to gain free entry,” a second agent told the DCNF.

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Another agent said that it would grant preferential treatment to anyone claiming to be part of the LGBTQ community.

“Many of them … would think they would getter better treatment, expedited processing or complete immunity when it came down to their court date,” a third agent told the DCNF.