111 HR 128 IH: Respect for the Law Act of 2009 U.S. House of Representatives 2009-01-06 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 128 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.

1.

Short title

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

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. .

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subparagraph (D) the following: (E)was ordered removed in absentia under section 240(b)(5)(A) (unless such order was rescinded or otherwise invalidated), ; and (D)by striking the matter following subparagraph (E) (as added by subparagraph (C)) and inserting the following: shall be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..

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.

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, .