119-s2547

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2547 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2547

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase penalties for 
 individuals who illegally enter and reenter the United States after 
 being removed, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 July 30, 2025

 Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mr. Budd, Mr. Justice, and Mr. Ricketts) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase penalties for 
 individuals who illegally enter and reenter the United States after 
 being removed, 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 ``Kate's Law''.

SEC. 2. COMMISSION OF CRIMES BY ALIENS WHO ARE UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN 
 THE UNITED STATES.

 

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--
 ``

    (1)
        (A) enters or attempts to enter the United States at 
 any time or place other than as designated by immigration 
 officers;
 ``
        (B) eludes examination or inspection by immigration 
 officers; or
 ``
            (C) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United 
 States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the 
 willful concealment of a material fact, and
 ``

    (2) thereafter is convicted of any crime punishable by 
 more than 1 year of imprisonment,
may be fined under title 18, United States Code, and shall be 
imprisoned for a term of not less than 5 years.''.

SEC. 3. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR REENTRY OF REMOVED ALIEN.

 

Section 276 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1326) 
is amended--

    (1) by redesignating subsections
            (c) and
            (d) as subsections

    (e) and

    (f) , respectively;

    (2) by striking subsections

    (a) and

    (b) and inserting the 
 following:
 ``

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsections

    (b) ,
            (c) , and
            (d) , any alien who--
 ``

    (1) has been denied admission, excluded, deported, 
 removed, or has departed the United States while an order of 
 exclusion, deportation, or removal is outstanding; and
 ``

    (2) thereafter enters, attempts to enter, or is at any 
 time found in, the United States--
shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more 
than 10 years, or both.
 ``

    (b) Exceptions.--An alien shall not be subject to the penalty 
under subsection

    (a) if--
 ``

    (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security has expressly 
 consented to such alien's reapplying for admission before the 
 alien's reembarkation at a place outside the United States or 
 the alien's application for admission from foreign contiguous 
 territory; or
 ``

    (2) an alien previously denied admission and removed 
 establishes that he or she alien was not required to obtain 
 such advance consent under this Act.
 ``
            (c) Criminal Penalties for Reentry of Certain Removed Aliens.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection

    (a) , and 
 except as provided in subsection
            (d) --
 ``
        (A) an alien described in subsection

    (a) who was 
 convicted before such removal or departure of 3 or more 
 misdemeanors involving drugs, crimes against the 
 person, or both shall be fined under title 18, United 
 States Code, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or 
 both;
 ``
        (B) an alien described in subsection

    (a) who has 
 been excluded from the United States pursuant to 
 

section 235
            (c) because the alien was inadmissible under 
 

section 212

    (a)

    (3)
        (B) or who has been removed from the 
 United States pursuant to the provisions of title V, 
 and who thereafter, without the permission of the 
 Secretary of Homeland Security, enters the United 
 States, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under 
 title 18, United States Code, and imprisoned for a 
 period of 10 years, which sentence shall not run 
 concurrently with any other sentence;
 ``
            (C) an alien described in subsection

    (a) who was 
 removed from the United States pursuant to 

section 241

    (a)

    (4)
        (B) who thereafter, without the permission of 
 the Secretary of Homeland Security, enters, attempts to 
 enter, or is at any time found in, the United States, 
 shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, 
 imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both; and
 ``
            (D) an alien described in subsection

    (a) who has 
 been denied admission, excluded, deported, or removed 3 
 or more times and thereafter enters, attempts to enter, 
 or is at any time found in the United States, shall be 
 fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned 
 not more than 10 years, or both.
 ``

    (2) Removal defined.--In this subsection and in 
 subsection
            (d) , the term `removal' includes any agreement in 
 which an alien stipulates to removal during (or not during) a 
 criminal trial under either Federal or State law.
 ``
            (d) Mandatory Minimum Criminal Penalty for Reentry of Certain 
Removed Aliens.--An alien described in subsection

    (a) --
 ``

    (1) who was convicted before such removal or departure 
 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 1 year of 
 imprisonment; or
 ``

    (2) who was convicted of a violation described in this 
 section at least twice before such removal or departure,
may be fined under title 18, United States Code, and shall be 
imprisoned for not less than 10 years.''; and

    (3) in subsection

    (e) , as redesignated by paragraph

    (1) --
        (A) by striking ``

section 242

    (h)

    (2) '' and inserting 
 ``

section 241

    (a)

    (4) ''; and
        (B) by striking ``Attorney General'' and inserting 
 ``Secretary of Homeland Security''.
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