Sponsors (24)
The bill aims to improve public and roadway safety by making DWI/DUI convictions a basis for inadmissibility and removal, but it also creates significant risks to noncitizens’ rights and fairness (including for old or minor offenses), increases administrative costs and backlogs, and invites inconsistent outcomes and litigation.
All Americans (particularly communities near borders) may see reduced risk of repeat drunk-driving offenses because noncitizens convicted of DWI/DUI would be barred from admission or made removable, lowering the presence of known drunk-driving offenders.
Local roadway safety could improve for residents in border and immigrant communities because noncitizens with DWI/DUI convictions can be removed or denied admission, potentially reducing drunk-driving incidents.
Noncitizens (including visa applicants and entrants) could be found inadmissible based on admissions or plea statements from other jurisdictions, risking removal or denial of entry even where no formal conviction exists or where statements were made without legal advice.
Noncitizens with single or old misdemeanor DWI convictions could face deportation or denial of admission, producing severe immigration consequences that may be disproportionate to the underlying offense.
Making DWI/DUI additional grounds for inadmissibility/removability will expand DHS and immigration-court workloads, likely increasing government costs and worsening case backlogs that slow processing for many immigrants.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates new immigration inadmissibility and deportability grounds for noncitizens convicted of or admitting to driving while intoxicated or impaired, regardless of misdemeanor/felony status.
Adds new immigration consequences for noncitizens tied to driving while intoxicated or impaired. The bill makes noncitizens inadmissible if they have been convicted of, or admit to committing, an offense that meets the essential elements of DUI/DWI as defined by the jurisdiction where it occurred, and makes them deportable if convicted of such an offense — in both cases regardless of whether the offense was charged as a misdemeanor or felony. A separate short-title provision is included.
Introduced January 31, 2025 by Barry Moore · Last progress June 27, 2025