Most Democrats Oppose Bill to Deport Migrants Who Assault Dogs
House Democrats faced sharp criticism Friday after nearly all members of the caucus voted against legislation that would authorize the deportation of non-citizens convicted of abusing animals used in law enforcement.
The measure — formally titled the Bill to Outlaw Wounding of Official Working Animals Act (BOWOW Act) — passed the House by a 228–190 margin, according to The Hill, with unified Republican support and backing from just 15 Democrats.
Those Democrats who broke ranks to support the bill included Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (N.C.), Sharice Davids (Kan.), John Garamendi (Calif.), Jared Golden (Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Greg Landsman (Ohio), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Adam Gray (Calif.), Josh Riley (N.Y.), Eric Sorensen (Ill.), Tom Suozzi (N.Y.) and Eugene Vindman (Va.).
The legislation would make any non-citizen who is “convicted of, or who admits to having committed, an offense related to harming animals used in law enforcement is inadmissible and deportable,” reinforcing consequences for those who attack service animals assisting police and border officials.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) blasted Democrats for opposing the measure, accusing the party of prioritizing illegal immigrants over public safety and basic decency.
“The Democrats just decided to officially become the party of PUNCHING PUPPIES,” Johnson noted. “190 Democrats just voted to give illegal immigrants the RIGHT TO PHYSICALLY ABUSE American service dogs — serving with law enforcement protecting American citizens.”
“The level Democrats will go to protect illegal aliens instead of Americans is disturbing, disgusting, and dangerous,” the Speaker added.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller echoed that sentiment, calling the vote “truly sickening.”
Republican lawmakers emphasized the critical role working animals play in safeguarding the public. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) underscored the moral clarity of the issue.
“Harming a law enforcement working animal is appalling and evil,” Simpson wrote in a post on X. “As a dog lover and someone who adamantly supports the working dogs who have served on the front lines, voting in favor of this bill was one of the easiest decisions of my congressional career.”
The legislation was introduced by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) following a disturbing incident involving an Egyptian national who assaulted a U.S. Customs and Border Protection dog at Washington Dulles International Airport. The individual, Hamed Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie, 70, pleaded guilty after kicking a five-year-old beagle named Freddie when the dog alerted authorities to potential contraband.
According to CBP, a veterinarian later confirmed that Freddie suffered contusions to his right rib area as a result of the attack — an incident that galvanized Republican lawmakers to push for stronger penalties against non-citizens who harm law enforcement animals.
Meanwhile, a separate and equally alarming issue has emerged under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, who is currently serving his second term in the White House. A sweeping review conducted by the Department of Justice has uncovered widespread irregularities in voter registration systems across the country.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon revealed that an audit of roughly 50 to 60 million voter records has already identified hundreds of thousands of ineligible registrations. Among the findings: more than 300,000 deceased individuals still listed as active voters, along with tens of thousands of non-citizens who have already cast ballots in federal elections.
The effort to clean up voter rolls has been ongoing since President Trump returned to office, with earlier findings in December 2025 uncovering over 260,000 deceased voters and thousands of unlawful registrations in an initial review of 47.5 million records.
Despite these alarming discoveries, the audit so far has only examined data from a limited number of states willing to cooperate, raising further concerns about the integrity of elections nationwide.
“We have run some records for some states. So, I think we’ve run something between 50 and 60 million voter records so far. And, you know, during this president’s tenure, we have found hundreds of thousands of people who shouldn’t be on the voter rolls—people who are dead, people who have moved, and duplicate registrations,” Dhillon told Newsmax TV late last week.
“We have also found, separately, noncitizens on the voter rolls. And so now we’re doing our due diligence to identify the extent to which they may or may not have voted,” she continued. ““And that’s easy when you have a system where there’s no voter ID, right? Where ballots are being mailed to outdated voting lists. This is not a fiction or a fantasy.”
The findings are likely to intensify calls from conservatives for stronger voter ID laws, more aggressive voter roll maintenance, and nationwide election integrity reforms — key pillars of President Trump’s second-term agenda.