Sponsors
The bill strengthens federal ability to block or remove noncitizens involved in animal fighting and standardizes enforcement, but expands immigration consequences that could deport people for minor or ambiguous local offenses and increases administrative burden.
DHS and federal law enforcement gain clearer authority to bar or remove noncitizens with documented involvement in animal-fighting networks, helping disrupt organized animal cruelty operations.
Immigrants convicted of animal cruelty or fighting can be denied admission or removed, which may reduce violent animal abuse in U.S. communities by keeping offenders out of the country or removing them.
Creates a uniform federal standard by tying inadmissibility/deportability to the offense's essential elements, reducing patchwork enforcement across jurisdictions.
Noncitizens with minor or local misdemeanor convictions for animal cruelty could be barred or deported, increasing collateral immigration penalties and harming long-term residency, family stability, and immigrant communities.
Differences and ambiguities in state, tribal, and local animal-cruelty statutes could lead to inconsistent or overbroad application, risking removal for conduct that may not clearly match federal elements.
Expanding grounds for inadmissibility/deportability will increase removal cases and administrative workload, raising costs for DHS and immigration courts and potentially diverting resources from other priorities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Makes convictions or admissions for animal cruelty or animal fighting under federal, state, tribal, or local law grounds for inadmissibility and deportability of noncitizens.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Nancy Mace · Last progress February 12, 2026
Adds convictions and admissions for animal cruelty and animal fighting under federal, state, tribal, or local law to the immigration grounds that make a noncitizen inadmissible to the United States or removable from the United States. The change covers convictions, admissions of conviction, and admissions of acts that constitute the essential elements of the offense, and applies whether the offense is classified as a misdemeanor or felony. As a result, noncitizens who are convicted of, or admit to, animal cruelty or animal fighting offenses (including the federal offenses in 18 U.S.C. §§48–49) could be denied entry, denied immigration benefits, or placed in removal proceedings and deported based on those offenses.