House Democrats vote against deporting immigrants who harm police dogs, horses
Nearly all Democrats opposed legislation Thursday targeting noncitizens who harm law enforcement animals. Lawmakers voted 228-190 largely along party lines to approve the measure, with just 15 Democratic lawmakers voting...
By Fox News · Fox News
Nearly all Democrats opposed legislation Thursday targeting noncitizens who harm law enforcement animals. Lawmakers voted 228-190 largely along party lines to approve the measure, with just 15 Democratic lawmakers voting "yes." All Republicans who voted supported the legislation. The Bill to Outlaw Wounding of Official Working Animals (BOWOW) Act, introduced by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., would make any noncitizen who is convicted of or admits to harming animals used in law enforcement operations deportable and not allowed to return. "The dogs and horses on the front lines of our federal law enforcement efforts alongside our officers deserve our protection," Calvert said upon introducing the legislation. "[It] sends a clear message that we will stand up for our four-legged friends and have zero tolerance for any immigrants who assault them." POLICE DOG HELPS SNIFF OUT BURGLARY SUSPECT HIDING IN AIR VENT Calvert cited an incident at Dulles Airport in June 2025 when Hamed Aly Marie, an Egyptian traveler, kicked a police K-9 that was screening his luggage and caught smuggled produce. The foreign national, who was promptly arrested by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), pleaded guilty to malicious assault on a police animal and returned to Egypt. The California Republican’s legislation would have made Marie eligible for deportation and inadmissible to the United States. "Can’t we at least all agree that kicking a 5-year-old beagle at an airport should disqualify a foreign national from entering our country ever again?" Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif, said in support of the measure Thursday. A majority of Democrats opposed the legislation because they argued that offenders could already be deported under existing law. SPARKS FLY AS GOP SENATOR REACTS TO BIDEN ADVISOR'S ‘I DON’T KNOW’ ANSWER ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LAW Democrats also raised concerns that Calvert’s measure would infringe on legal immigrants’ due process rights by allowing for their removal before obtaining…