Sponsors (2)
The bill grants expedited naturalization to immediate family members of U.S. citizen public safety officers who died from work-related causes—quickly extending citizenship rights and economic opportunities to those families—while imposing modest government costs and introducing some verification/fraud-detection risks.
Surviving spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizen public safety officers who died from work-related injury or disease can become U.S. citizens without meeting prior U.S. residence or physical-presence requirements.
Those eligible family members can access citizenship-associated benefits sooner — such as federal employment eligibility, voting, and the ability to sponsor relatives — improving economic and civic opportunities.
The bill eases immigration barriers for families of fallen public safety officers, providing formal recognition and social support to households impacted by job-related deaths.
Taxpayers and USCIS may face additional application-processing and adjudication costs to implement expedited naturalization for these groups.
Waiving prior residence/physical-presence requirements could make eligibility verification more difficult in some cases, increasing the risk of fraud or improper naturalizations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who died from injury or disease tied to public safety officer work to naturalize without prior residence/physical-presence requirements.
Official title: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for naturalization processes for the immediate relatives of public safety officers who die as a result of their employment, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 9, 2025 by Donald J. Bacon · Last progress June 9, 2025
Creates a narrow naturalization exception allowing certain immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who died from injuries or disease incurred or aggravated by employment as public safety officers to apply for citizenship without meeting the usual prior residence or physical presence requirements. The change covers surviving spouses (who were living in marital union at time of death), children, and parents and otherwise requires applicants to meet all other INA naturalization requirements; "public safety officer" is defined by reference to existing federal law.