AUSTIN – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Flight Risk Reduction Act, which would prevent criminal defendants who are not U.S. citizens from fleeing or failing to appear for trial:

“This legislation would alter current law to help ensure criminal defendants who are not U.S. citizens are held pending trial rather than being granted bail and potentially skipping bail or fleeing the country before facing justice for their crimes, and I’m glad to support it,” said Sen. Cornyn.

“Our communities are unsafe when non-US citizens exploit loopholes to escape our justice system and continually break our laws,” said Sen. Lee. “Just this week in Salt Lake, a suspected rapist told our police he plans to return to Peru after his assault of a local university student. Under President Biden, more than 150,000 illegal aliens skipped their criminal hearings in 2023. That is eight times the rate from before he took office. The Flight Risk Reduction Act ensures courts have the necessary power to detain non-citizen criminals before trial, unless they can prove they are not a flight risk.”

The legislation is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Jim Banks (R-IN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Dave McCormick (R-PA), Ashley Moody (R-FL), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), and Thom Tillis (R-NC).

Background:

Currently, detention hearings are automatically triggered for certain cases to assess whether a criminal defendant might flee. The Flight Risk Reduction Act would add non-U.S. citizenship as an automatic trigger for such hearings. Additionally, it would:

• Categorize non-citizen criminals as presumed flight risks;
• Require defendants to present evidence demonstrating they will not flee or harm others;
• And deem family ties and employment as possible evidence of community connections, but not necessarily sufficient factors for release.