Bipartisan Bill to Protect U.S. Law Enforcement Serving Abroad
Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced the Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Law Enforcement Protection Act, which would allow individuals who kill or attempt to kill federal law enforcement abroad to be prosecuted in U.S. courts.
Senator Cornyn said of the bill, “U.S. law enforcement officers sacrifice their own safety for their fellow Americans, regardless of where they don their uniform. This bill sends an important message to our protectors that we recognize your service and we have your back.”
Senator Coons furthered, “This bill provides an important clarification to federal law and will help ensure that we hold accountable those who attack federal officers overseas.”
The bill is named after Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agents Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila. While in Mexico, the two were attacked by drug cartels, and Agent Zapata died from his injuries. Although his attackers were apprehended and convicted of murder in the U.S., a federal appeals court dismissed the convictions, ruling that district courts did not have jurisdiction over the crimes committed against law enforcement stationed overseas.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said, “Federal officers lost while serving our nation abroad should be entitled to the same justice that they’d receive while serving our nation at home. This bill clarifies that those who do harm to our federal public servants will face the consequences in an American court of law, regardless of where their crimes occurs.”
Larry Cosme, President of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), applauded the bill. Cosme said, "We look forward to working with Sen. Cornyn and Sen. Coons to close this loophole and ensure that the federal law applying to murder of a U.S. citizen overseas specifically states that it applies extraterritoriality so that no American citizen or federal law enforcement officer will ever again have to fear that the US government can't pursue and enforce justice.”