Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions issued a blistering rebuke of Hillary Clinton for abandoning her duties as Secretary of State and for “failing” to uphold U.S. immigration law during her tenure at the State Department.

Sessions said that Clinton’s failure to follow the law has resulted in the preventable suffering of thousands of innocent Americans who have been victims of illegal alien crime, and he demanded that Clinton explain herself to the American people.

Sessions explained that as Secretary of State, Clinton had the power — and the obligation — to pressure foreign nations to repatriate their citizens who were unlawfully present in the United States. However, Secretary Clinton ignored federal law which required her to take action against against uncooperative nations. Instead, she allowed thousands of dangerous foreign nationals, who were not repatriated by their home countries, to be released into American communities.

Foreign nations refusing to repatriate their citizens was a “serious problem [that] was well known to Hillary Clinton the entire time she was Secretary of State,” Sessions wrote in a statement released Saturday. “Yet she failed to stop this practice when she had the duty and responsibility do so as Secretary of State, failing to follow clear legal requirements passed by Congress.”

“Hillary Clinton must explain to the American people, and especially to the victims of these criminal aliens who were not deported, why she did not act to prevent these tragic events,” Sessions declared.

For years, Sen. Sessions has been Congress’s most vocal advocate for immigration reform that establishes a lawful system of immigration, preserves national sovereignty, and prioritizes the needs and interests of American citizens.

In his written statement, Sessions elaborated on how Clinton’s refusal to fulfill her obligations as Secretary of State put the safety of American citizens at risk. Sessions wrote:

Federal records show that from 2008 to 2014, nearly 13,000 criminal aliens who had been ordered deported were released back onto our streets because their home countries refused to take them back. This unacceptable practice has allowed many of these criminal aliens to commit new and serious crimes after their release, including rape, assault, child molestation, drug dealing, and murder… Section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act commands that when a foreign nation refuses or ‘unreasonably’ delays the return of one of their nationals, the Secretary of State shall order our consular officials to stop issuing visas to persons from that country. As Secretary, she clearly had both actual and constructive notice about these practices from many nations. Yet, Hillary Clinton failed to fulfill her duty to use this authority and stop this practice, even once. For most nations, using this authority will get compliance in short order. Of course, there are many other diplomatic and financial actions the United States can take to promptly end the refusals and delays.

“While the full scope of this problem and all of the crimes may not be known to the public, the available information is disturbing,” Sessions added. He went on:

The Boston Globe has reported that between 2008 and 2014, almost 13,000 convicted aliens that should have been detained until deported, were released onto our streets, resulting in numerous totally preventable rapes, assaults and murders, among other crimes. For example, a convicted criminal alien who should have been deported to Haiti in 2012 was instead released, and murdered 25-year-old Casey Chadwick just last year. The Boston Globe further reported that, out of the data it analyzed, there were more convicted killers released from 2008 to 2012 than traffic violators.

On Saturday, Donald Trump similarly addressed Clinton’s refusal to pressure uncooperative foreign nations to repatriate their citizens. In particular, Trump pointed to the recent case of a Laotian illegal alien who shot and critically wounded two correctional officers in California. Trump explained that the illegal alien would not have been in the country if Clinton had taken action and enforced federal law while she was Secretary of State:

A few days ago, two correctional officers in California were critically wounded after being shot by an illegal immigrant who overstayed his visa. This individual was convicted of child rape and was slated to be deported, but his home country refused to take him back. He was simply too bad, too tough, too evil. They said we refuse to take him back. One of the victims has six children, is an air force veteran, and a high school football coach. The other victim is a mother and a grandmother. When Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State the matter of this country… refusing to take back their deported citizens came before Hillary Clinton’s desk. But she failed to take forceful action and ignored the federal law requiring her to suspend visas to countries that don’t take back their citizens. She didn’t want to get involved.

“The most fundamental duty of government is to protect American lives,” Trump added. “Anyone who fails to understand this is not fit to hold public office.”