Sponsors (3)
Treats federal criminal voting offenses by unlawfully present noncitizens as aggravated felonies and makes them grounds for deportation.
The bill strengthens enforcement against noncitizen voting to protect election integrity but does so by imposing severe immigration penalties and enforcement costs, with substantial risk of wrongful or overbroad application that could harm immigrants and their families.
Noncitizen immigrants unlawfully present who knowingly attempt to vote would be removed from the U.S. immigration system, reducing attempts at noncitizen voting and aiming to protect election integrity.
Department of Homeland Security would have clearer statutory authority to pursue and remove noncitizens who commit criminal voting offenses, which could improve consistency and predictability of enforcement.
Immigrants unlawfully present could face deportation and long-term bars from the U.S. (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 risk being prosecuted or deported if the law's knowledge standard is interpreted broadly, creating potential wrongful removals and civil‑liberty harms.
Expanding prosecution and deportation for voting-related offenses could increase workloads for DHS and federal courts and raise enforcement costs for taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make voting in a Federal election by an unlawfully present alien an aggravated felony, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Andrew S. Biggs · Last progress January 3, 2025
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to treat certain criminal voting offenses committed by noncitizens who are unlawfully present as aggravated felonies and to make those unlawful voting acts a deportable offense. Specifically, it adds 18 U.S.C. §611 (criminal voting offense) to the INA aggravated-felony list when committed by an unlawfully present alien and separately makes knowingly committing that offense a ground for removal. The bill is narrowly focused: it does not create new voting crimes for citizens, change procedures for citizens, or include funding. It changes immigration consequences for noncitizens who illegally vote or attempt to vote while unlawfully present in the United States.