Republicans Want to Deport Immigrants for a Single DUI

Will Democrats go along with another bill to punish immigrants for not being perfect?

One of the early signs that Democrats weren’t really in the mood to fight on immigration policy was the passage of the Laken Riley Act, which became the first bill that President Trump signed upon returning to the White House in January.

The Laken Riley Act is a bad law. It’s also cooked up to be bad in all the ways that would scare a swing district politician. To oppose it, one has to defend undocumented immigrants who get entangled with the criminal justice system, even if only briefly, even if never found guilty of a crime. That polls badly. It would require a politician to do a lot of explaining, about the difference between accusation and guilt, about due process, about proportionality, yada yada. The media consultants always teach: If you’re explaining, you’re losing. Who has the courage for that kind of fight?

In January, 48 House Dems and 12 Senate Dems did not have that courage. Or, maybe they just liked the idea of indefinitely detaining people who have never been convicted of anything. Or, maybe they trusted the incoming Trump Administration to be more … not the Trump Administration? (Ask Rep. Jahana Hayes of Connecticut to explain this one.)

Or, to be more charitable, maybe some of these congresspeople and senators just didn’t understand what the bill would actually do. I mean, how could they? Laws are complicated, and one has to acknowledge that it was a full 8-pages long, double-spaced. Maybe if they had understood they would have voted no, but who has the time to read eight pages?

Eight!

[To be fair, I’ve talked to more than one reporter who has been misled by a politician about what the Laken Riley Act actually does. I’ve told these reporters, “You know, you don’t have to ask me. You could just read it.”]

Do I sound a little bitter? Actually, I’m worried they might do it again. The House is nearing a vote on an even shorter bill — Two Paragraphs! - known as the H.R. 875, or the Jeremy and Angel Seay and Sergeant Brandon Mendoza Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act of 2025.

It deports legal immigrants for a single drunk driving offense. Just one.

Dad with two kids, here legally for 15 years, steady job, deport.

Mom with three kids, here legally for 25 years, owns her own business, employs 17 other people, deport.

Grandma of 18, Nobel Prize in Biology, cured 3 types of cancer, deacon in her church and also coached Little League? Deport. Of course, deport.

Don’t get me wrong. People drink and drive way too much. One of the most formative events of my adolescence was when a girl in my high school was killed by an intoxicated driver, who was another student. It’s really dangerous.

But when I say people should not drink and drive, what I mean is people should not drink and drive. As in, all people. Not just, you know, immigrants. And I don’t mean that people’s lives should be destroyed by a first offense. I just want people to learn from it and not do it again.

The thing about drinking and driving is that it’s a very easy mistake to make, especially once. The reason drunk driving is not a deportable offense in immigration law right now is that people commit this offense without having the slightest intent to hurt another person. I have friends who have a DUI arrest on their record. I’ve had multiple law students with DUIs. This is a crime that a lot of good people commit. If driving drunk once is the worst thing you’ve ever done, you’ve lived better than many.

There’s a lot of polling showing that most Americans don’t support mass deportation of most undocumented immigrants — if they have no criminal record. But once an undocumented immigrant commits even a nonviolent crime, public opinion flips from a strong majority opposing deportation to a sizable plurality supporting it.

I haven’t seen polling specifically asking about deporting people for a single DUI offense. But the general approach that has popular support is really unfortunate. Immigrants, unlike the rest of us humans, must be perfect.

All of which is why this vote on H.R. 875 will be telling about whether anything has changed since January. I do not really think most people, nor most Democrats in Congress, would break up a family over a single DUI, if they took a moment to think about it. But the consultants will wince. The superficial polling is a little unfavorable. It will take a little backbone.

So I’m worried.