Congressman Tim Moore Introduces Automatic Flight Risk Status for Non-Citizen Criminals

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Tim Moore introduced the Flight Risk Reduction Act (H.R. 6582) to prevent non-U.S. citizen criminal defendants from fleeing the country and evading justice before trial.

“We’ve seen cases across the country where illegal aliens commit crimes and hurt innocent Americans, then flee before they can be held accountable,” said Congressman Moore. “Our justice system can’t ignore the very real risk that non-citizen defendants, especially those in the country illegally, will flee to avoid facing justice. This bill gives courts the clear authority to detain those who are most likely to run.”

The Flight Risk Reduction Act establishes a presumption that non-U.S. citizen defendants are flight risks, requiring them to present evidence showing they are unlikely to flee or pose a threat to public safety. Courts would still be allowed to consider family ties and employment as evidence of community connections, but the bill makes clear that those factors alone do not guarantee release.

Under current law, detention hearings are automatically triggered in certain criminal cases to determine whether a defendant should be held pretrial. This bill would add non-citizenship as one of those automatic triggers, ensuring judges closely examine the risk of flight before making a release decision.

The legislation follows two deeply troubling incidents involving non-citizens. In Charlotte, an illegal immigrant with two prior deportations was arrested for a brutal stabbing on the city’s light rail system. Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, a rideshare driver—also a non-citizen—was taken into custody for sexually assaulting a university student. During the investigation, he admitted that he planned to flee to Peru, his home country.

Original cosponsors of this legislation include Reps. Troy Nehls (TX-22), Harriet Hageman (WY-AL), Barry Moore (AL-01), Tony Wied (WI-08), and Claudia Tenney (NY-24).

This legislation was first introduced in the Senate by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), cosponsored by Senators Jim Banks (R-IN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Katie Britt (R-AL), John Cornyn (R-TX), 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).

“Our communities are unsafe when non-US citizens exploit loopholes to escape our justice system and continually break our laws,” said Senator Mike Lee. “Just last month 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.”

Read the full text of the bill HERE.