Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn introduced a bill Thursday to codify President Donald Trump’s executive order instituting the death penalty for illegal immigrant murderers.
Cornyn’s bill, titled the “Justice for American Victims of Illegal Aliens Act,” would add illegal immigration status to the list of items to be considered in determining the justification for a death sentence in U.S. Code, according to the bill text. Trump issued the executive order Jan. 20, which instructs federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for not only illegal aliens guilty of capital crimes but for any involved in the murder of a law enforcement officer.
Without the codification of the law, a succeeding administration could repeal the order with the stroke of a pen.
“Violent predators who enter our country illegally and brutally murder American citizens should be subject to the death penalty as a consequence of their heinous actions,” Cornyn told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “By enshrining President Trump’s Executive Order into law, this legislation would protect the American people, make our country safe again, and ensure no future President can singlehandedly undo this consequence for taking innocent lives.”
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested over 10,000 illegal aliens that had prior criminal convictions in fiscal year 2024. Moreover, 29 of those crimes were homicides or manslaughter.
So far in fiscal year 2025, CBP has detained nine illegal aliens with a homicide or manslaughter charge, according to agency data.
Illegal border crossings have gone down drastically since Trump assumed office, with a 71% apprehension decrease from January to February and a 94% decrease from Feb. 2024, according to CBP statistics.
Cornyn will be challenged in the Republican primary for his U.S. Senate seat by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the prosecutor announced April 8. Cornyn, when asked about Paxton’s challenge, told reporters a day after Paxton’s announcement that the AG was a “known con man and a fraud.”
Paxton has long clashed with Cornyn, once saying the senator would “defend other countries borders, but not America” when he supported a foreign aid bill last February.
Co-sponsors include Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines, Republican Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts, Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Republican Idaho Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Republican West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice and Republican Indiana Sen. Jim Banks.
“Illegal immigrants who murder American citizens deserve the death penalty,” Banks told the DCNF in a statement. “I fully support codifying President Trump’s executive order to ensure these monsters face justice.”
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