Sponsors (6)
The bill prioritizes public- and victim-safety by expanding inadmissibility and deportability for sex and certain violent family offenses, but does so at the cost of broader removal powers that risk deporting nonconvicted individuals, narrowing asylum/protection access, and increasing legal complexity.
Communities: Immigrants with convictions for sex offenses or specified violent family crimes will be barred from admission or made deportable, reducing the presence of individuals judged higher-risk and likely improving public safety.
Victims and potential victims: Survivors of sex crimes, domestic violence, stalking, and child abuse may face reduced risk of future harm if perpetrators are denied admission to—or removed from—the United States.
Noncitizens (including some without criminal convictions): Expanding inadmissible/deportable categories to rely on admissions of conduct and to bar broader classes of offenses can lead to removals of people who never were convicted, restrict access to asylum or other protections for vulnerable applicants, and increase risk of deportation without full defenses.
Noncitizens with past convictions or admissions: The bill enables expedited removal and reduces eligibility for relief, likely increasing deportations and causing family separation for U.S. families with noncitizen members.
Immigration adjudicators and applicants: Adopting the Adam Walsh Act's sex-offense definition may sweep in a wide range of conduct, creating legal complexity, inconsistent adjudication, and more litigation for courts and immigration agencies.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 21, 2025 by Marsha Blackburn · Last progress January 21, 2025
Amends federal immigration law to make people inadmissible to the United States if they have been convicted of, or admit committing, certain crimes: sex offenses (as defined in federal law), domestic violence, stalking, child abuse/neglect/abandonment, and specified violations of protection orders. It also adds sex offenses as a separate ground for deportability for noncitizens already in the U.S. The change relies on the Adam Walsh Act definition of “sex offense” and applies to both admission applicants and noncitizens present in the country. No new funding or implementation details are included.