Sponsor
Thomas Bryant Cotton
Senator · R-AR
Senator · R-AR
The bill trades faster, more centralized immigration enforcement and incentives for local cooperation—aimed at removing noncitizens with convictions and reducing backlogs—for substantially reduced procedural protections for many noncitizens, greater fiscal and administrative burdens on state and local governments, and increased risks of wrongful detention and family separation.
Noncitizens with qualifying criminal convictions (felony or two misdemeanors) and convictions generally are identified and processed for removal much faster, shortening time from conviction to immigration action and potentially removing people who pose safety risks more quickly.
Immigration case processing and court dockets are likely to move faster—shorter filing/decision windows and expedited procedures reduce backlog and produce quicker disposition of criminal removal cases.
State and local agencies will have more standardized reporting and integrated database reporting to federal immigration authorities, improving coordination, information accuracy, and consistency of records used for enforcement decisions.
Noncitizens (including lawful permanent residents) face substantially reduced time and procedures to contest removal—shorter deadlines, expanded expedited removal, and potential retroactive application—which raises a high risk of denied due process, wrongful deportations, and less time to prepare defenses.
State and local jurisdictions will incur new administrative and compliance costs (24‑hour reporting, database integration, certification requirements) and risk losing federal transportation funds if labeled 'sanctuary,' producing meaningful fiscal pressure on local budgets and services.
Incentives and grant-funded increases in detention capacity and enforcement equipment, plus broader detainer issuance, are likely to increase local detention time and enforcement activity, harming community trust, civil liberties, and community‑policing relationships in immigrant communities.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Expands expedited deportation to any felony or two misdemeanors, requires 24‑hour conviction reporting to DHS, speeds removal proceedings, and withholds highway funds from 'sanctuary' jurisdictions.
Official title: Improve the efficiency of the removal process by enhancing cooperation between government entities and by expanding the grounds for deportation for any alien to include any felony or any 2 misdemeanors.
Introduced January 14, 2026 by Thomas Bryant Cotton · Last progress January 14, 2026
Requires states and local law enforcement and courts to report every criminal conviction of any non‑U.S. citizen to DHS within 24 hours, expands federal expedited removal authority to cover any felony or two misdemeanors (instead of only “aggravated felonies”), shortens immigration court timing and appeal windows for prioritized criminal removal cases, creates a $150 million annual DHS grant program for jurisdictions that fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, and withholds 15% of Highway Trust Fund apportionments from jurisdictions the bill defines as “sanctuary.” The bill makes the expanded expedited removal authority retroactive to convictions that occurred before enactment. The measure directs the Attorney General and DHS to build reporting integrations within 180 days, requires DHS to initiate removal actions on qualifying convictions, accelerates adjudication rules and regulatory deadlines for criminal removal cases, conditions federal transportation funds on local cooperation with immigration detainers, and provides competitive funding to cooperating jurisdictions for detention, training, and equipment.