Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar says that 30 countries are refusing to take deported criminal illegal aliens back and he wants the US government to force their cooperation.

A law is already on the books, Cuellar noted in an interview with Sheryl Attkisson, that the US could stop issuing visas to citzens of those countries until they changed their policy.

Daily Caller:

“We’re not enforcing it, which is amazing. So now my intent is to go back to our committee on appropriations and affect their funding until they do that,” Cuellar told Sharyl Attkisson, host of Full Measure, in an interview.

Cuellar, a Democratic member of the House Committee on Appropriations, told Attkisson that the Supreme Court has ruled that illegal immigrants arrested for criminal activity can only be held for a certain period of time before they must be released.

“That means you’re releasing criminals into our streets because those countries refuse to take back those criminal aliens,” said Cuellar. “That’s wrong. And especially I think it’s even worse that this is already on the books, and we’re still issuing business tourist visas and student visas to countries that refuse to take back their criminal aliens. That’s wrong, and we’re hoping to change that.”

Cuellar has not been afraid to break with some of his party leadership on immigration issues in the past. He was known as one of former President Barack Obama’s fiercest critics on illegal immigration. Cuellar teamed up with Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn in 2014 to help pass a bill that would speed up the deportation of unaccompanied minors. His stance disappointed his fellow Democrats, including Sen. Harry Reid.

There are many foreign countries that refuse to retake illegal immigrants convicted of crimes, according to the congressman, including Vietnam, Cuba and China. Cuellar said that diplomacy plays a factor in the government’s refusal to enforce the law, as the Department of State and other federal agencies do not want to upset foreign partners.

But, for Cuellar, diplomacy is no excuse to put American lives in danger.

“But my response is, but we can upset our constituents, we can upset our way of life that we have here by allowing those criminals to be released?” said Cuellar. “And basically the response from the State Department is because you have to work with the State Department and Homeland Security. And the State Department, with all due respect, was focused on diplomacy.”

Other nations are used to the lax attitude of the Obama administration toward deportations and do not see a reason to change their policies. As long as the US continues business as usual in the face of their defiance, nothing will change.

One can certainly understand that most countries would be very reluctant to allow a convicted felon back into their country. We saw the same thing with inmates from Guantanamo Bay prison camp. What nation in their right mind would welcome a terrorist back home? Even Muslim countries were reluctant to take Gitmo prisoners. But after a deportation order is issued for a criminal illegal alien, it is no longer America's problem. 

A visa slowdown would be inconvenient for China and most other countries doing business with the US. The Trump administration might be open to such a course of action if these countries continue to refuse lawful American deportation orders that would send criminals back to where they came from.