U.S. Sen. Katie Britt is leading a new immigration detention bill aimed at giving federal authorities greater power to keep certain aliens in custody when deportation cannot immediately be carried out.
Britt (R-Montgomery) introduced the Keep Our Communities Safe Act of 2026 alongside 12 Republican senators, including U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
“America is a nation of laws, and if you violate our laws and are subject to removal from the United States, you should remain in detention until the point of deportation,” Britt said.
Tuberville also weighed in on the legislation.
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris allowed millions of illegals to INVADE our country—and now law-abiding Americans are paying the price,” Tuberville (R-Auburn) said. “We need to do everything we can to deport every single one of these criminals. I’m proud to cosponsor the Keep Our Communities Safe Act to close a legal loophole and allow these illegals to be detained and sent home for good.”
The legislation targets restrictions stemming from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2001 decision in Zadvydas v. Davis.
In that case, the Court held that federal law generally does not permit indefinite immigration detention after a final removal order. The Court established six months as a presumptively reasonable detention period.
After that point, if an individual can show there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future, the federal government must rebut that showing or release the individual under supervision.
Britt described the decision as creating a loophole when another country refuses to accept someone ordered removed from the United States.
“Zadvydas v. Davis created a legal loophole that forces the release of aliens into our communities after six months simply because no country has agreed to take them back,” Britt said. “This bill would help to close that loophole once and for all.”
The legislation would expand the Department of Homeland Security’s authority to detain certain criminal aliens and limit access to bond unless an individual can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that they are neither a flight risk nor a danger to another person or the community.
It would also permit extended detention in certain cases involving national security threats, aggravated felonies and crimes of violence.
Britt previously introduced a version of the Keep Our Communities Safe Act during the 118th Congress in 2023. That proposal was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee but did not advance further.
The 2026 version includes several updates to the earlier legislation.
Britt has made immigration enforcement a focus of her Senate tenure. She served as the Senate lead on the Laken Riley Act, which became the first legislation signed by President Donald Trump during his second term, and recently introduced legislation requiring employers nationwide to use the federal E-Verify system.
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
