Sponsors (15)
The bill strengthens and clarifies federal authority and transparency to remove noncitizens who assault law‑enforcement officers—potentially improving officer safety and oversight—at the cost of heightened deportation risk, due‑process and equity concerns across jurisdictions, and added administrative, fiscal, and privacy burdens.
Law enforcement and the public: Creates a clear statutory basis for DHS and immigration courts to prioritize removal of noncitizens who assault law‑enforcement officers, which may reduce repeat violent encounters and support officer safety.
Immigrants and adjudicators: Defines the covered conduct and actors (assault as defined under local law; who counts as a 'law enforcement officer'), reducing some ambiguity in removal decisions and improving consistency of enforcement actions.
Immigrants, taxpayers, and Congress: Requires DHS to publish annual counts of deportations under INA §237(a)(2)(G), increasing transparency and providing recurring data for public oversight and congressional evaluation of enforcement effectiveness and resource use.
Immigrants: Treating admissions of conduct (even without conviction) as a basis for deportation raises significant due‑process and overreach concerns that could lead to removals without full adjudication.
Immigrants and individuals interacting with police: A broad definition of 'law enforcement officer' could expand who is covered and increase deportation risk from marginal or disputed encounters.
Immigrants: Relying on jurisdictional (state/local) definitions of 'assault' risks inconsistent outcomes across states, producing unequal treatment in removal proceedings.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 23, 2025 by Theodore Paul Budd · Last progress January 23, 2025
Adds a new deportation ground for noncitizens convicted of, or admitting to, assaulting a law enforcement officer and requires the Department of Homeland Security to publish an annual report listing deportations under that new ground. The measure defines assault by reference to the criminal law of the place where the act occurred and defines "law enforcement officer" as a person authorized to enforce criminal or civil laws. The change makes certain assault convictions or admissions explicitly removable and creates an ongoing DHS reporting duty; no new spending, effective date, or changes to other immigration grounds are specified in the text provided.