Sponsors (3)
The bill strengthens authority to remove noncitizen voters and aims to reduce fraudulent voting, but does so by expanding deportation exposure and enforcement costs and risks penalizing immigrants for inadvertent or mistaken interactions with the voting process.
DHS and federal immigration system will have clearer statutory authority to identify, pursue, and remove noncitizens who commit criminal voting offenses, improving enforcement consistency.
Unlawfully present immigrants who knowingly attempt to vote would be removed from the U.S. immigration system, reducing instances of fraudulent voting attempts and potential electoral manipulation.
Unlawfully present immigrants could be deported and face long-term bars or aggravated-felony consequences for a single voting offense, increasing removals and hardship for affected individuals and families.
Noncitizens who unknowingly or mistakenly engage with voting processes could be prosecuted or deported if the knowledge standard is interpreted broadly, risking wrongful removals and loss of due process protections.
Taxpayers and federal agencies could face higher enforcement and court costs to investigate, prosecute, and deport people for voting-related offenses, increasing burdens on DHS, federal courts, and public budgets.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds federal noncitizen voting offenses under 18 U.S.C. §611, when committed by an unlawfully present alien, to the list of aggravated felonies and makes such aliens deportable.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Andrew S. Biggs · Last progress January 3, 2025
Makes noncitizens who are unlawfully present in the United States and who commit certain federal voting crimes subject to deportation and classification as having committed an "aggravated felony." The bill adds criminal voting offenses under 18 U.S.C. §611, when committed by an alien unlawfully present, to the Immigration and Nationality Act's aggravated felony definition and to the list of deportable offenses. The measure does not provide new funding or an effective date and is narrowly focused on changing immigration consequences for unlawfully present noncitizens convicted of specific voting offenses. It is likely to increase removals, affect eligibility for immigration relief, and shift enforcement and legal workloads toward immigration and criminal justice agencies and immigration legal service providers.