WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), joined a group of more than 10 senators, led by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), in introducing the Keep Our Communities Safe Act. The legislation would close the “catch-and-release” loophole. That policy requires the government to release illegal aliens into the United States’ interior after detaining them for six months, if no other country accepts them for deportation.

“America’s border crisis threatens our national security and the safety of our local communities. We can’t afford to send violent offenders out into the country, and the Keep Our Communities Safe Act would make sure that officials don’t ‘catch and release’ offenders when they are here illegally,” said Kennedy.

The Keep Our Communities Safe Act would close the loophole that prevents the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from detaining illegal immigrants for more than six months when:

• The alien’s release would threaten the safety of the community and the alien either is an aggravated felon or has committed a crime of violence; 
• The alien would be removed in the reasonably foreseeable future;
• The alien would have been removed if not for the alien’s refusal to make all reasonable efforts to comply and cooperate with DHS efforts to remove him or her;
• The alien has a highly contagious disease;
• The alien’s release would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences; or
• The alien’s release would threaten national security.

Full text of the bill can be found here.