Sponsors (20)
The bill strengthens immigration consequences for harming law‑enforcement animals to improve public safety and give agencies clearer authority, while increasing the risk of removal based on admissions, potential unequal impacts on vulnerable immigrants, and added administrative and legal burdens.
Law-enforcement officers and the public: noncitizens who assault or harm animals used in law enforcement can be denied admission or deported, reducing the presence of individuals who commit targeted violent acts against law-enforcement resources.
DHS, DOJ, and immigration adjudicators: the bill creates explicit statutory grounds to deny visas or remove noncitizens who harmed law-enforcement animals, giving agencies clearer authority and potentially streamlining immigration and enforcement decisions.
Noncitizens and visa applicants: people who admit to harming law-enforcement animals (even without a criminal conviction) could face visa denial or removal, increasing the risk of deportation based on admissions rather than proven convictions.
Vulnerable immigrants and low-income defendants: reliance on admissions or plea bargaining creates a heightened risk of coercive or disparate enforcement, disproportionately harming those with fewer resources to defend themselves.
Taxpayers and the immigration system: expanding grounds for denial/removal based on admissions may increase agency caseloads and provoke legal challenges, producing administrative burdens and litigation costs for taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Adds harm to law‑enforcement animals (18 U.S.C. §1368) as a new ground for inadmissibility and deportability for noncitizens.
Makes noncitizens who have been convicted of, admitted to, or admitted committing conduct that meets the federal crime for harming animals used in law enforcement (18 U.S.C. § 1368) inadmissible to the United States and removable if already present. It does this by adding that offense as a new ground for inadmissibility and deportability in the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Official title: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that an alien who has been convicted of harming animals used in law enforcement is inadmissible and deportable, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Ken Calvert · Last progress March 19, 2026