[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 128 Introduced in House (IH)]







111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 128

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to strengthen the criminal 
      consequences for certain violations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 2009

 Mr. Gallegly introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to strengthen the criminal 
      consequences for certain violations, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Respect for the Law Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. CRIMINAL CONSEQUENCES WITH RESPECT TO VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE.

    Subsection (d) of section 240B of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1229c(d)) is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by striking ``Civil'';
            (2) in paragraph (1), by amending subparagraph (A) to read 
        as follows:
                    ``(A) shall be imprisoned not less than 1 and not 
                more than 4 years and fined under title 18, United 
                States Code; and'';
            (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and
            (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) Reentry of departed aliens.--An alien who is 
        permitted to depart voluntarily under this section and 
        thereafter enters, attempts to enter, or is present in the 
        United States in violation of law shall be imprisoned not less 
        than 1 and not more than 2 years and fined under title 18, 
        United States Code.''.

SEC. 3. CRIMINAL CONSEQUENCES WITH RESPECT TO FAILURE OF A DEPORTABLE 
              ALIEN TO DEPART OR APPEAR.

    Subsection (a) of section 243 of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1253(a)) is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by inserting ``for Failure to Appear 
        and'' before ``for Failure to Depart''; and
            (2) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (D), by adding ``or'' at the 
                end;
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the 
                following:
                    ``(E) was ordered removed in absentia under section 
                240(b)(5)(A) (unless such order was rescinded or 
                otherwise invalidated),''; and
                    (D) by striking the matter following subparagraph 
                (E) (as added by subparagraph (C)) and inserting the 
                following:
        ``shall be imprisoned not less than 1 and not more than 4 years 
        (or imprisoned 10 years if the alien is a member of any of the 
        classes described in paragraph (1)(E), (2), (3), or (4) of 
        section 237(a)) and fined under title 18, United States 
        Code.''.

SEC. 4. CRIMINAL CONSEQUENCES WITH RESPECT TO REENTRY OF REMOVED 
              ALIENS.

    Section 276 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1326) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking the matter following 
        paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
``shall be imprisoned not less than 1 and not more than 2 years and 
fined under title 18, United States Code.''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``shall be 
                fined'' and all that follows through ``or both'' and 
                inserting ``shall be imprisoned not less than 3 and not 
                more than 10 years and fined under title 18, United 
                States Code'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``shall be 
                fined'' and all that follows through ``or both'' and 
                inserting ``shall be imprisoned not less than 10 and 
                not more than 20 years and fined under title 18, United 
                States Code''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ``shall be 
                fined'' and all that follows through ``or both'' and 
                inserting ``shall be imprisoned not less than 3 and not 
                more than 10 years and fined under title 18, United 
                States Code''.

SEC. 5. EXCLUSION OF ALIENS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES FOR 
              MORE THAN 6 MONTHS.

    Section 212(a)(9)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(i)) is amended by striking subclauses (I) and (II) 
and inserting the following:
                                    ``(I) has been unlawfully present 
                                in the United States for a period of 
                                more than 180 days but less than 1 
                                year, unless the alien has subsequently 
                                remained outside of the United States 
                                for an uninterrupted period of at least 
                                3 years, or
                                    ``(II) has been unlawfully present 
                                in the United States for a period of 1 
                                year or more, unless the alien has 
                                subsequently remained outside of the 
                                United States for an uninterrupted 
                                period of at least 10 years,''.
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