Sponsors (4)
The bill increases criminal penalties to better protect ICE officers and deter assaults, but does so at the cost of higher taxpayer-funded incarceration spending and greater risk of harsher, potentially unequal enforcement that disproportionately affects immigrant communities.
ICE employees (federal immigration officers) receive stronger legal protections because assaults against them carry substantially higher prison terms and fines.
Stronger penalties may deter assaults on ICE officers, potentially reducing violent incidents during enforcement operations and improving officer safety.
Immigrant communities where ICE conducts operations may face more aggressive criminal prosecutions and harsher sentences after confrontations, increasing risk of unequal treatment and chilling cooperation with authorities.
Enhanced penalties apply specifically to assaults on ICE employees, creating a legal disparity in protections between ICE staff and other federal, state, or local officers.
Longer prison terms and higher fines for those convicted of assaulting ICE officers will raise incarceration and criminal-justice costs, increasing fiscal burdens on taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Doubles the maximum prison term and raises the maximum fine for assaults under 18 U.S.C. §111 when the victim is an ICE officer or employee.
Creates a new, higher penalty for attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and employees by amending the federal assault statute. When an assault covered by 18 U.S.C. §111 is committed against an ICE officer or employee, the bill doubles the statute’s maximum prison term and increases the maximum fine accordingly.
Official title: Amend title 18, United States Code, to increase the criminal penalties for assaulting, resisting, or impeding an officer or employee of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Introduced July 14, 2025 by Eric Stephen Schmitt · Last progress July 14, 2025