Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced two pieces of legislation Tuesday that further President Donald Trump's campaign promises to fix the broken immigration system.
Blackburn's office announced the "Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act" and the "Creating Obstructions Necessary to Address Illegal and Nefarious Entry Rapidly Act."
The former allows for the deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of sexual offenses or domestic violence and the later will enable border states to place temporary barriers on federal land to protect their communities.
Trump made illegal immigration and its pernicious effects on society a key element of his 2024 campaign. Blackburn's legislation drafts off this sentiment by putting criminal illegal immigrants at the top of the list for deportation.
"No illegal immigrant who commits an act of sexual violence against U.S. citizens should be allowed to enter or remain in our country," Blackburn said, according to The Daily Caller. "This legislation is common sense, and we need to keep dangerous individuals like the violent criminals who killed Laken Riley and Rachel Morin off our streets and out of our country."
A House version of the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act introduced by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., passed the lower chamber earlier this month by a 274-145 margin, with 61 Democrats joining the Republican majority.
The Nefarious Entry Act would give authority to border states to temporarily build portable structures on federal land to prevent illegal border crossings without first having to obtain federal approval. The bill allows state governments to keep the barriers on federal land for up to a year under extensions approved by the secretaries of Agriculture and Interior.
"Under President Biden, Border Patrol encountered more than 10 million illegal immigrants at our southern border, turning every single state into a border state," Blackburn said. "The Biden-Harris administration also exacerbated the problem by trying to stop the use of measures that help secure the border, including shipping containers and razor wire.
"This legislation would give border states the explicit authority to protect their communities and help stop the flow of traffickers, drugs, and criminals at the southern border/"
The two bills come at a time when more Democrats appear supportive of a crackdown on illegal immigration. On Monday, the Senate voted 64-35 to pass the Laken Riley Act, with 12 Democrats joining the GOP majority to approve it. The bill is named after Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student murdered by Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant who had been arrested for shoplifting before the attack and was released.