Tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk renewed criticism of the more than 150 House Democrats who voted against deporting illegal immigrants convicted of sex offenses, demanding each of the lawmakers be voted out of office. 

“There is no excuse. Please post the list of people who opposed this law and want to keep illegals who are convicted sex offenders in America,” Musk posted to his X account on Saturday referencing a September House vote. 

“They all need to be voted out of office. Every one of them.”

The Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act passed the House in September, after all 215 present Republicans voted in favor of the bill, and were joined by 51 Democratic colleagues. A total of 158 Democrats, however, voted against the bill. 

158 DEMS VOTE AGAINST BILL TO DEPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO COMMIT SEX CRIMES

The Democrats who voted against the bill came under scrutiny in September, and are facing renewed criticism on social media this month as commenters resurrect the vote ahead of President-elect Trump taking office this month. 

“The bill targeted rapists, pedophiles, domestic abusers, and stalkers, ensuring they couldn’t stay in the U.S. Opponents claimed it ‘demonized immigrants,’ but how does protecting convicted predators help anyone – especially their victims?” X show host Mario Nawfal posted to his account Saturday, sparking Musk to weigh in. 

“Deporting violent offenders isn’t ‘fearmongering’ – it’s basic public safety. Why would anyone vote to keep criminals who prey on women and children?” Nawfal added.

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The legislation would deport illegal immigrants convicted of sex crimes, and would ​​also deem illegal immigrants who admit to domestic violence or sex-related charges – or are convicted of them – to be inadmissible in the U.S., Fox Digital previously reported. The legislation is currently with the Senate, and was referred to the Judiciary Committee. 

Representatives of the 119th Congress are sworn in during the first day of session in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 3, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Notable Democrats who voted against the legislation included Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., former California Rep. Adam Schiff, who now serves in the Senate, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Musk’s call for the Democrats to be voted out of Congress over the vote comes after he vowed in December to fund moderate Democratic politicians in deep blue districts, “so that the country can get rid of those who don’t represent them.”

CLYBURN BRUSHES OFF MUSK’S PLAN TO FUND MODERATES IN DEMOCRATIC DISTRICTS

President-elect Trump greets Elon Musk as he arrives to attend a SpaceX Starship launch on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Musk is also slated to serve alongside Vivek Ramaswamy to lead an upcoming presidential advisory committee, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will work to cut excessive government spending and slash the size of the government under Trump’s second administration.

According to the office of the House clerk, the 158 Democrats who voted against the legislation are:

1. Alma Adams, North Carolina
2. Pete Aguilar, California
3. Gabe Amo, Rhode Island
4. Jake Auchincloss, Massachusetts
5. Becca Balint, Vermont
6. Nanette Barragán, California
7. Joyce Beatty, Ohio
8. Ami Bera, California
9. Donald Beyer, Virginia
10. Sanford D. Bishop Jr., Georgia
11. Earl Blumenauer, Oregon
12. Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon
13. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware
14. Jamaal Bowman, New York
15. Shontel Brown, Ohio
16. Julia Brownley, California
17. Cori Bush, Missouri
18. Salud Carbajal, California
19. Tony Cárdenas, California
20. André Carson, Indiana
21. Troy Carter, Louisiana
22. Greg Casar, Texas
23. Ed Case, Hawaii
24. Sean Casten, Illinois
25. Kathy Castor, Florida
26. Joaquin Castro, Texas
27. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Florida
28. Judy Chu, California
29. Katherine Clark, Massachusetts
30. Yvette Clarke, New York
31. Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri
32. James Clyburn, South Carolina
33. Steve Cohen, Tennessee
34. Gerald Connolly, Virginia
35. Luis Correa, California
36. Jim Costa, California
37. Jasmine Crockett, Texas
38. Jason Crow, Colorado
39. Danny Davis, Illinois
40. Madeleine Dean, Pennsylvania
41. Diana DeGette, Colorado
42. Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut
43. Suzan DelBene, Washington
44. Mark DeSaulnier, California
45. Debbie Dingell, Michigan
46. Lloyd Doggett, Texas
47. Veronica Escobar, Texas
48. Anna Eshoo, California
49. Adriano Espaillat, New York
50. Lizzie Fletcher, Texas
51. Bill Foster, Illinois
52. Valerie Foushee, North Carolina
53. Lois Frankel, Florida
54. Maxwell Frost, Florida
55. John Garamendi, California
56. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, Illinois
57. Robert Garcia, California
58. Sylvia Garcia, Texas
59. Dan Goldman, New York
60. Jimmy Gomez, California
61. Al Green, Texas
62. James Himes, Connecticut
63. Steny Hoyer, Maryland
64. Valerie Hoyle, Oregon
65. Jared Huffman, California
66. Glenn Ivey, Maryland
67. Jonathan Jackson, Illinois
68. Sara Jacobs, California
69. Pramila Jayapal, Washington
70. Hakeem Jeffries, New York
71. Henry “Hank” Johnson, Georgia
72. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, California
73. Bill Keating, Massachusetts
74. Robin Kelly, Illinois
75. Ro Khanna, California
76. Dan Kildee, Michigan
77. Derek Kilmer, Washington
78. Andy Kim, New Jersey
79. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
80. Ann Kuster, New Hampshire
81. Greg Landsman, Ohio
82. Rick Larsen, Washington
83. John Larson, Connecticut
84. Barbara Lee, California
85. Summer Lee, Pennsylvania
86. Teresa Leger Fernandez, New Mexico
87. Ted Lieu, California
88. Zoe Lofgren, California
89. Doris Matsui, California
90. Lucy McBath, Georgia
91. Jennifer McClellan, Virginia
92. Betty McCollum, Minnesota
93. Morgan McGarvey, Kentucky
94. James McGovern, Massachusetts
95. Gregory Meeks, New York
96. Rob Menendez, New Jersey
97. Grace Meng, New York
98. Kweisi Mfume, Maryland
99. Gwen Moore, Wisconsin
100. Joseph Morelle, New York
101. Seth Moulton, Massachusetts
102. Kevin Mullin, California
103. Jerrold Nadler, New York
104. Grace Napolitano, California
105. Richard Neal, Massachusetts
106. Joe Neguse, Colorado
107. Donald Norcross, New Jersey
108. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York
109. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota
110. Frank Pallone, New Jersey
111. Nancy Pelosi, California
112. Scott Peters, California
113. Brittany Pettersen, Colorado
114. Dean Phillips, Minnesota
115. Chellie Pingree, Maine
116. Mark Pocan, Wisconsin
117. Katie Porter, California
118. Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts
119. Mike Quigley, Illinois
120. Delia Ramirez, Illinois
121. Jamie Raskin, Maryland
122. Deborah Ross, North Carolina
123. Raul Ruiz, California
124. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Maryland
125. Linda Sánchez, California
126. John Sarbanes, Maryland
127. Mary Scanlon, Pennsylvania
128. Janice Schakowsky, Illinois
129. Adam Schiff, California
130. Bradley Schneider, Illinois
131. Robert “Bobby” Scott, Virginia
132. David Scott, Georgia
133. Terri Sewell, Alabama
134. Brad Sherman, California
135. Darren Soto, Florida
136. Melanie Stansbury, New Mexico
137. Haley Stevens, Michigan
138. Marilyn Strickland, Washington
139. Mark Takano, California
140. Shri Thanedar, Michigan
141. Mike Thompson, California
142. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi
143. Rashida Tlaib, Michigan
144. Jill Tokuda, Hawaii
145. Paul Tonko, New York
146. Norma Torres, California
147. Ritchie Torres, New York
148. Lori Trahan, Massachusetts
149. David Trone, Maryland
150. Lauren Underwood, Illinois
151. Juan Vargas, California
152. Marc Veasey, Texas
153. Nydia Velázquez, New York
154. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida
155. Maxine Waters, California
156. Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey
157. Nikema Williams, Georgia
158. Frederica Wilson, Florida

The Democrats who voted against the legislation came under fierce scrutiny in September from conservatives. 

“If you vote against it, you’re sexist against women,” South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace, who introduced the legislation, said in September to Fox Digital. 

Migrants attempt to cross into the U.S. from Mexico at the border Dec. 17, 2023 in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. (Nick Ut/Getty Images)

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“I mean, truly, because we’re talking about illegals who are here who are committing domestic violence, rape and murder on women and children – they’ve gotta go. They shouldn’t be allowed into our country.”

“158 Democrats just voted AGAINST deporting migrants for s*x offenses. This is a slap in the face to every victim and their family members. Democrats hate you and your children,” popular conservative X account Libs of TikTok posted at the time. 

Democrats who voted against the bill characterized it as xenophobic and an example of “fearmongering” against immigrants. 

“Here we are again, debating another partisan bill that fear mongers about immigrants, instead of working together to fix the immigration system,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said during debate on the bill.

“I probably shouldn’t be too surprised. Scapegoating immigrants and attempting to weaponize the crime of domestic violence is appearing to be a time-honored tradition for Republicans.”

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

Will President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to “launch the largest deportation program in American history” truly keep millions of immigrants out of the country? My research on deportees over the last five years suggests it won’t.

Here’s why: They’ll come back.

One of the migrants I interviewed was deported to a perilous town in northern Mexico, where he found himself in immediate danger on arriving at a bus terminal. Members of a criminal group demanded that he provide a contraseña — a password he didn’t have — or face kidnapping. He ultimately borrowed $1,500 from a friend to pay them off, remain free and make his way back to the United States.

His experience is an example of the risks deportees face in their countries of origin. Those dangers — and the relative safety of the only homes they have — often motivate them to undertake harrowing journeys back to the United States.

Although data on deportees is somewhat limited, the evidence we have shows that people re-immigrate after deportation more frequently than many might expect. In fiscal 2020, for example, the federal government classified 40% of deportations as “reinstatements of removal,” meaning the deportees had reentered the United States after being removed or ordered to leave. A 2019 report by the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration advocacy group, similarly noted that such reinstatements of removal generally make up 40% of deportations annually. From 2011 to 2020, approximately 1.3 million deportations affected people who had been deported before.

That’s because deportation policies are at best blunt instruments that take little account of the human lives they ensnare. Those who view mass deportation as a solution to unauthorized immigration ignore the deep roots, sense of belonging, family ties and resolve that drive people back to the country they call home.

Undeterred by deportation, people I’ve interviewed have found ways to return to the United States with or without permission. Their stories reveal the rarely discussed truth that deportation is not necessarily the end of migration; it is often a temporary, futile interruption.

I spoke to another man who was born in Mexico but raised in the United States, served in the military and struggled with post-traumatic stress. Because of a minor cannabis possession charge, he was deported to a country he barely remembered. In 2021, more than a decade after his exile, he returned to the only land he considers his own, the United States.

“You can travel the world,” he told me, “but eventually, your heart and spirit will call you home.”

Another Mexican-born, U.S.-raised military veteran I interviewed was also deported over a marijuana charge. Feeling “erased from existence,” he risked his life to return less than a month later.

“I don’t need a paper to tell me I’m an American,” he told me.

These stories expose a fundamental flaw of mass deportation. In contrast to the cyclical migration patterns of earlier decades — when migrants, mostly men, moved back and forth between the United States and Mexico with relative ease in response to the labor market — today’s cycle is driven by government coercion and unbreakable bonds. Forced departures lead to inevitable returns as deportees are pulled back by connections that no amount of enforcement can sever.

The coyotes who smuggle them have become part of what the anthropologist Jason De León calls a “border-security-industrial complex.” If their illicit businesses were publicly traded, their stocks would be soaring on renewed demand. Meanwhile, border enforcement policies push migrants into treacherous terrain where they face dehydration, hypothermia and death in the desert.

For deportees, returning is an act not just of determination, but of survival. Some are lucky enough to make it back, but as the Spanish saying goes, “Tanto va el cántaro al agua hasta que se quiebra”: The pitcher goes to the well until it finally breaks. Deportation policies push people to take increasingly greater risks to return to the only homes they’ve ever known. The next attempt could always be their last.

Deportation may well become the defining issue of our era if we continue down this punitive path. When mass deportations fail, what will follow? Will we see modern-day versions of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s executive order authorizing forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans, complete with “relocation centers”?

Under a very different executive order signed by President Biden in 2021, the Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs departments prioritized the return of deported U.S. military members and their families. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, similarly sought to recognize longtime residents’ ties to the country and restore their place in the American communities they call home.

Such policies live up to American ideals of justice and inclusion by embracing those who, in every meaningful way, already belong. Mass deportation would betray those values, put even more lives at risk and very often fail on its own terms.

Saúl Ramírez is a fellow at Harvard Law School and a doctoral candidate in sociology at Harvard.