Lawmaker Seeks Ban on Special Perks for Pardoned Drug Traffickers

Rep. Norma Torres, a California Democrat, introduced an amendment last month that would prevent the Federal Bureau of Prisons and other agencies from using taxpayer funds to give convicted drug traffickers and child traffickers special accommodations, transportation, or removal of immigration detainers after a presidential pardon.

The measure was offered during consideration of a House appropriations bill for fiscal year 2027. The House Appropriations Committee voted along party lines against including the amendment, with 31 Republicans opposing it and 27 Democrats supporting it.

Background on the Hernández case Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández was sentenced in early 2024 to 45 years in prison after a federal jury convicted him of taking bribes and allowing more than 400 tons of cocaine to be exported to the United States.

President Trump granted him a full pardon on December 1, 2025. According to ProPublica reporting, on the day of his release from a West Virginia federal penitentiary, prison officials arranged to have an immigration detainer lifted and paid a four-person tactical team overtime to drive Hernández six hours to the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan.

Torres response and next steps Torres, a Guatemalan immigrant, said in a press release after the committee vote that taxpayer dollars should not be used to give convicted criminals special accommodations or government-funded transportation. She stated she plans to raise the issue again before the House Rules Committee this summer.

A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson declined to comment on the proposed measure. ICE referred questions to the White House, which did not respond to a request for comment.