WASHINGTON D.C. – Kansas Third District Congresswoman Sharice Davids cast the sole Kansas delegation vote against a bill last week that would mean the automatic deportation of a non-citizen found guilty of assaulting a police officer or first responder.
Davids’ press officer Zac Donley gave no reasoning for Davids voting down HR 2494, instead citing other instances he said showed she was an advocate for law enforcement. Critics however said this wasn’t the first time Davids had turned her back on law enforcement.
The bill passed the Republican-controlled house by a vote of 303-126 with numerous Democrats crossing over to vote with the Republican majority. The bill provided for the deportation of illegal aliens found guilty or who admitted to assault on officers or responders and called for the Secretary of Homeland Security to make public on the internet an annual report of the number of aliens deported during the previous year. Congressmen LaTurner, Estes and Mann from Kansas all voted in favor of the act.
Donley said Davids had supported legislation that made resources available to officers seeking treatment for PTSD and had supported other legislation for cops. But Delanie Bomar with the National Republican Central Committee said Davids’ history of shorting law enforcement was well documented.
Davids, the sole Democrat in the Kansas congressional delegation, voted against a House condemnation measure earlier this year of a Washington D.C. Council resolution critics say gave more power to anti-police activists and allows D.C. officers to be targeted by protestors. Bomar said Davids in 2018 voiced support for defunding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and also told a public gathering the police system is “rooted in violence.”
“For years, Sharice Davids has advocated for defunding law enforcement and public safety,” Bomar said. “Davids’ empty platitudes ring hollow but these votes tell Kansas law enforcement everything they need to know about Davids not having their backs.”
Anderson County Sheriff Vern Valentine said local officers had not dealt with violence from illegal immigrants, but had become frustrated with the repetition in the revolving door system.
“We have sent a person back already and they made it back here in a month or so,” Valentine said. “Now we have sent them back again, and I heard he was back in the area again.”