May 7, 2025
Mr. Knott (for himself, Mr. Fry, Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Harrigan, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Harris of North Carolina, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Moore of North Carolina, Mr. Messmer, Mr. Onder, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Stutzman, Mr. Van Drew, Mr. Barr, Mr. Haridopolos, Mr. Stauber, Mr. Baumgartner, Mr. Collins, Ms. Stefanik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Biggs of Arizona, Mr. Mast, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Evans of Colorado, Mr. McCormick, Mr. Jack, Mr. Hunt, Mr. Hudson, Mr. Kennedy of Utah, and Mr. Downing) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide additional criminal penalties for aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States and are convicted of crimes, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Punishing Illegal Immigrant Felons Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Commission of crimes by aliens unlawfully present in the United States
(a) Commission of crimes by aliens who improperly enter
Section 275 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1325) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a), by striking 2 years
and inserting 5 years
; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following:
(e)
Any alien who improperly enters the United States, as described in subsection (a), and is subsequently convicted of any crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such conviction, be imprisoned for not less than 5 years.
(b) Commission of crimes by aliens previously removed
Section 276 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1326) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a), by striking 2 years
and inserting 10 years
; and
(2)
in subsection (b)—
(A)
in paragraph (1)—
(i)
by striking or a felony (other than an aggravated felony),
; and
(ii)
by striking 10 years
and inserting 15 years
; and
(B)
by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
(2)
whose removal was subsequent to a conviction for commission of—
(A)
any aggravated felony;
(B)
any crime defined as a felony by the relevant jurisdiction (Federal, State, tribal, or local) of conviction; or
(C)
any crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment,
such alien shall be imprisoned not less than 10 years and fined under title 18, United States Code;