President Trump signed Laken Riley act on January 29, 2025, which requires Department of Homeland Security to detain illegal immigrants who are charged or convicted of theft related crimes, assaulting a police officer and causing death or injury while driving under the influence (DUI). You can read more about Laken Riley Act in my previous blog. Also if you want to know what the current law relating to DUI please go and search our newsletter for another blog on DUI which talks about how DUI impacts you and under current immigration law and regulations.
What is the HR875 Bill?
While Laken Riley act is only applicable to illegal immigrants there is another bill introduced in the House of Representative which goes by the name “Protect Our Communities from DUI Act”. As of February 27, 2025, H.R. 875, titled the “Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act,” is a bill introduced in the 119th Congress. This legislation aims to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to address the admissibility and deportability of non-citizens involved in driving under the influence (DUI) offenses.
This bill in the current form can make any non-US national convicted or admits to have committed DUI inadmissible or deportable. Plain reading of the current version of the law shows its broad implication on people even on Green Card (permanent residents) as well as people in USA on H1b or B1 or L-1 or any status. Based on the current text of the bill, anyone with a DUI offense cannot enter USA or be granted visa or become deportable if DHS become cognizant of the fact that you have committed or admit to committing DUI.
Key Provisions of H.R. 875:
- Inadmissibility: The bill proposes that any non-citizen who has been convicted of, admits to having committed, or admits to acts constituting the essential elements of a DUI offense—defined under the jurisdiction where the incident occurred—is deemed inadmissible to the United States. This applies regardless of whether the offense is classified as a misdemeanor or felony under federal, state, tribal, or local law.
- Deportability: Similarly, the legislation stipulates that any non-citizen convicted of a DUI offense, as defined by the relevant jurisdiction, is deportable. This holds true irrespective of the offense’s classification as a misdemeanor or felony under various legal frameworks.
For the complete and most current text of H.R. 875, including any amendments and legislative actions, you can refer to the official Congress website:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/875
Please note that legislative texts are subject to change as they progress through the legislative process. As of February 27, 2025, H.R. 875 has been ordered to be reported (amended) by voice vote in the House Judiciary Committee and is now waiting for a full House vote. The House Rules Committee will determine how much debate is allowed and whether further amendments can be proposed on the House floor. The full House of Representatives will debate and vote on the bill. If the bill receives a simple majority (at least 218 votes out of 435), it passes the House. Once passed by the House, H.R. 875 moves to the Senate. The bill is referred to a Senate committee (likely the Senate Judiciary Committee) for review. The committee may approve the bill as is, amend it or reject it (stopping further progress). If the Senate committee approves, the bill is debated on the Senate floor. The Senate can filibuster the bill, requiring 60 votes for cloture to end debate. If there is no filibuster, the bill moves to a final vote. If at least 51 Senators vote in favor, it passes the Senate. If the Senate makes changes to H.R. 875, the House must agree to those changes. If the House disagrees, a conference committee (with members from both chambers) is formed to reconcile differences. Both the House and Senate must vote on the final compromise bill. Once both chambers agree on the final bill, it is sent to the President for signature.
Laken Riley Act had widespread support from both Republicans and Democrats. But Laken Riley Act dealt only with illegal immigrants but on the contrary this DUI bill impacts anyone who is not US national and so people on Green Card or H-1B or L-1 or TN or B-1 can get impacted. But the Bill is still in the house and people who were convicted with DUI are hoping that some changes are made to the text of the Bill so that it only applies to people who are living illegally in USA like the Laken Riley Act. That prompts the question why this DUI Bill when Laken Riley Act already requires DHS to detain illegal immigrants with DUI conviction if that caused serious bodily injury or death? Answer could be that Laken Riley deals with detention, but the DUI Bill does something more, which is making immigrants (both legal and illegal) deportable if they were convicted of a DUI offense.
Whether the DUI Bill in the current form will be passed depends on how much lobbying is done by people who are impacted by this bill or by organizations like ACLU. As part of my immigration practice, I have come across clients with DUI which did not cause any serious injury or death, and it was not an issue during naturalization or even during H1b stamping. Currently anyone with a DUI conviction must go through an evaluation and the physician’s report has to be submitted to the US Consulate and if there are no issues the visa is granted. But this new DUI Bill could drastically change the current laws by making such people deportable or inadmissible.
Majority of us will acknowledge that DUI is inherently reckless and dangerous behavior, but the question is if a law should retroactively punish people and in this case by way of making non-US nationals deportable and inadmissible for a DUI offense they were convicted of in the past?
If you are one of those individuals that will be impacted by this proposed law you may want to contact your House of Representative and Senator, if this bill moves to senate, and ask them to at least add an amendment so that it will be only applicable for future DUI offense and it will not be retroactive.
In conclusion, this new proposed DUI Bill in current form is very broad since it can make any non-US national deportable or inadmissible for a DUI conviction they had years back.
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