119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 175


To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to aliens associated with criminal gangs, and for other purposes.


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 3, 2025

Mr. McClintock (for himself, Mr. Weber of Texas, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Nehls, Ms. Hageman, and Mr. Ogles) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary


A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to aliens associated with criminal gangs, 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 “Deport Alien Gang Members Act”.

SEC. 2. Grounds of inadmissibility and deportability for alien gang members.

(a) Definition of gang member.—Section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(53) The term ‘criminal gang’ means an ongoing group, club, organization, or association of 5 or more persons that has as 1 of its primary purposes the commission of 1 or more of the offenses described in this paragraph and the members of which engage, or have engaged within the past 5 years, in a continuing series of such offenses, or that has been designated as a criminal gang by the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attorney General, as meeting these criteria. The offenses described, whether committed, in whole or in part, within or outside of the United States and regardless of whether the offenses occurred before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, are the following:

“(A) A Federal, State, local, or Tribal offense that is punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year and relates to a controlled substance (as so classified under the relevant Federal, State, local, or Tribal law), regardless of whether the substance is classified as a controlled substance under section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802).

“(B) A foreign offense that is punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year and relates to a controlled substance as defined under section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802).

“(C) An offense that is punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year and involves firearms or explosives (as defined under the relevant Federal, State, local, Tribal, or foreign law) or in violation of section 931 of title 18, United States Code (relating to purchase, ownership, or possession of body armor by violent felons).

“(D) An offense under section 274 (relating to bringing in and harboring certain aliens), section 277 (relating to aiding or assisting certain aliens to enter the United States), or section 278 (relating to importation of alien for immoral purpose).

“(E) A crime of violence (as defined in section 16(a) of title 18, United States Code).

“(F) A crime involving obstruction of justice, tampering with or retaliating against a witness, victim, or informant, or burglary (as such terms are defined under the relevant Federal, State, local, Tribal, or foreign law).

“(G) Any conduct punishable under sections 1028, 1028A, and 1029 of title 18, United States Code (relating to fraud, aggravated identity theft or fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents or access devices), sections 1581 through 1594 of such title (relating to peonage, slavery, and trafficking in persons), section 1951 of such title (relating to interference with commerce by threats or violence), section 1952 of such title (relating to interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises), section 1956 of such title (relating to the laundering of monetary instruments), section 1957 of such title (relating to engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity), or sections 2312 through 2315 of such title (relating to interstate transportation of stolen motor vehicles or stolen property).

“(H) A conspiracy to commit an offense described in subparagraphs (A) through (G).”.

(b) Inadmissibility.—Section 212(a)(2) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(J) ALIENS ASSOCIATED WITH CRIMINAL GANGS.—Any alien is inadmissible who a consular officer, an immigration officer, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the Attorney General knows, or has reason to believe—

“(i) is, or has been, a member of a criminal gang;

“(ii) has promoted, conspired with, aided, or participated in the activities of a criminal gang, whether within or outside of the United States; or

“(iii) seeks to enter the United States, or has entered the United States, in furtherance of the activities of a criminal gang, whether those activities take place within or outside of the United States.”.

(c) Deportability.—Section 237(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(G) ALIENS ASSOCIATED WITH CRIMINAL GANGS.—Any alien is deportable who—

“(i) is or has been a member of a criminal gang; or

“(ii) has promoted, conspired with, aided, or participated in the activities of a criminal gang, whether within or outside of the United States.”.

(d) Designation.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182) is amended by inserting after section 219 the following:


“Sec. 220. Designation of criminal gang.

(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents for such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 219 the following:


“Sec. 220. Designation.”.

(e) Mandatory detention of criminal gang members.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 236(c)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226(c)(1)) is amended—

(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking “or” at the end;

(B) in subparagraph (D), by inserting “or” at the end; and

(C) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:

“(E) is inadmissible under section 212(a)(2)(J) or deportable under section 217(a)(2)(G),”.

(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than March 1 of each year (beginning 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act), the Secretary of Homeland Security, after consultation with the appropriate Federal agencies, shall submit a report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the Senate on the number of aliens detained under the amendments made by paragraph (1).

(f) Claims based on gang affiliation.—

(1) INAPPLICABILITY OF RESTRICTION ON REMOVAL TO CERTAIN COUNTRIES.—Section 241(b)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1251(b)(3)(B)) is amended, in the matter preceding clause (i), by inserting “who is described in section 212(a)(2)(J)(i) or section 237(a)(2)(G)(i) or who is” after “to an alien”.

(2) INELIGIBILITY FOR ASYLUM.—Section 208(b)(2)(A) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(A)) (as amended by section 201 of this Act) is further amended—

(A) in clause (v), by striking “or” at the end;

(B) by redesignating clause (vi) as clause (vii); and

(C) by inserting after clause (v) the following:

“(vi) the alien is described in section 212(a)(2)(J)(i) or section 237(a)(2)(G)(i); or”.

(g) Temporary protected status.—Section 244 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a) is amended—

(1) by striking “Attorney General” each place it appears and inserting “Secretary of Homeland Security”;

(2) in subparagraph (c)(2)(B)—

(A) in clause (i), by striking “or” at the end;

(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period and inserting “; or”; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

“(iii) the alien is, or at any time has been, described in section 212(a)(2)(J) or section 237(a)(2)(G).”; and

(3) in subsection (d)—

(A) by striking paragraph (3); and

(B) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the following: “The Secretary of Homeland Security may detain an alien provided temporary protected status under this section whenever appropriate under any other provision of law.”.

(h) Special immigrant juvenile visas.—Section 101(a)(27)(J)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)(iii)) is amended—

(1) in subclause (I), by striking “and”;

(2) in subclause (II), by adding “and” at the end; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

“(III) no alien who is, or at any time has been, described in section 212(a)(2)(J) or section 237(a)(2)(G) shall be eligible for any immigration benefit under this subparagraph;”.

(i) Parole.—An alien described in section 212(a)(2)(J) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by subsection (b), shall not be eligible for parole under section 212(d)(5)(A) of such Act unless—

(1) the alien is assisting or has assisted the United States Government in a law enforcement matter, including a criminal investigation; and

(2) the alien’s presence in the United States is required by the Government with respect to such assistance.

(j) Ineligibility for other relief.—An alien described in section 212(a)(2)(J) or 237(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(J) or 1227(a)(2)(G)) shall be ineligible for any other relief under the immigration laws, including under section 2242 of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 (and any regulations issued pursuant to such section).

(k) Effective date.—The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to acts that occur before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act.