SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Sen. Mike Lee wants to make it tougher for immigrants in the country illegally who face federal charges to secure release from detention pending resolution of their cases.

The Republican lawmaker introduced legislation Thursday, the Flight Risk Reduction Act, meant to prevent such suspects “from fleeing and failing to appear for trial,” his office said in a statement. His statement cited the case of a man from Peru arrested Monday in Salt Lake City on suspicion of rape.

“Our communities are unsafe when non-U.S. citizens exploit loopholes to escape our justice system and continually break our laws,” Lee said in a statement. The proposal, he went on, “ensures courts have the necessary power to detain noncitizen criminals before trial, unless they can prove they are no

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