Sponsors (16)
The bill centralizes and toughens immigration enforcement to prevent repeat illegal reentry and clarify removal consequences, but does so by imposing harsher mandatory penalties and procedural burdens that increase incarceration costs and risk reduced protections and family separations for migrants.
Communities and the public benefit from stronger enforcement because immigrants convicted of aggravated felonies or repeat illegal reentry face mandatory penalties, making it harder for high‑risk individuals to avoid removal.
Federal operations become more centralized and administratively coherent because responsibility for these immigration decisions shifts from the Attorney General to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Immigration consequences are clarified because the bill defines 'removal' to include stipulations in criminal proceedings, closing a legal gap that previously allowed some agreements to avoid immigration effects.
Immigrants who reenter after prior deportation face much longer and potentially mandatory prison terms (up to 10 years), increasing incarceration costs and causing greater family separation for border and immigrant communities.
Noncitizens — including those with humanitarian claims — may be exposed to mandatory criminal sentences for multiple prior entries or certain prior convictions, reducing discretion to account for humanitarian or procedural defenses.
Requiring DHS consent before reapplying for admission places a procedural burden on migrants and can limit lawful return options for families, workers, and others seeking to reunify or resume employment.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands and increases criminal penalties for noncitizens who reenter after removal, adds tiered and mandatory sentences in some cases, and updates statutory references and definitions.
Amends the federal illegal-reentry statute (8 U.S.C. §1326) to expand and increase criminal penalties for noncitizens who reenter the United States after being denied admission, excluded, deported, removed, or who departed while an order of removal was outstanding. The revision creates tiered penalties—raising maximum terms and imposing mandatory 10-year terms in some cases—broadens the definition of “removal,” and shifts certain references from the Attorney General to the Secretary of Homeland Security. The change is focused on tougher criminal enforcement: it clarifies that prior removals (including stipulations to removal in criminal proceedings), prior felony convictions, prior removals, or multiple prior entries can trigger enhanced or mandatory sentences, and it adjusts statutory cross-references to align with removal provisions under current immigration law.
Introduced January 28, 2025 by Stephanie I. Bice · Last progress January 28, 2025