Sponsors (33)
This bill strengthens federal enforcement, protections for border-area policing, and transparency for prosecutions of vehicle-evading conduct, but it expands federal criminal and immigration consequences — including use of admissions, mandatory penalties, and a wide geographic scope — that raise civil‑liberty risks, costs, and burdens on courts and immigration systems.
Law-enforcement officers working near the border will have stronger legal protections and deterrents against dangerous vehicle flight, likely reducing risky high-speed chases and improving officer safety.
Victims of collisions caused by intentional vehicle flight near the border (including those seriously injured or killed) face stronger accountability through mandatory prison terms for offenders.
Prosecuting vehicle-evading conduct as a federal offense in border areas standardizes enforcement across jurisdictions and can close gaps when multiple agencies are involved.
Immigrants and people in border communities who flee in vehicles — including those who do so because they fear unlawful conduct or seek protection — risk federal criminal charges and immigration bars, raising the likelihood of arrests, deportations, and family separations.
Using admissions of conduct (not just convictions) to trigger inadmissibility or denial of asylum risks denying protection based on vague, mistaken, or coerced statements made during encounters with law enforcement or immigration officials.
Expanding federal jurisdiction and adding mandatory lengthy sentences will increase prison populations and federal prosecution costs, raising taxpayer burdens for incarceration and enforcement.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Creates a new federal criminal offense for operating a motor vehicle within 100 miles of the U.S. border while intentionally fleeing a pursuing U.S. Border Patrol agent or a law enforcement officer assisting Border Patrol, and sets tiered prison terms that increase if the flight causes serious injury or death. It also makes any noncitizen convicted of, or admitting to acts that meet the elements of, that offense inadmissible to the United States, deportable, and categorically ineligible for immigration relief (including asylum). The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security must submit an annual report to Congress with counts and outcomes related to the offense (charges, apprehensions, penalties sought and imposed, and estimates of unapprehended offenders).
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Juan Ciscomani · Last progress February 13, 2025