[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3645 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3645
To improve the efficiency of the removal process by enhancing
cooperation between government entities and by expanding the grounds
for deportation for any alien to include any felony or any 2
misdemeanors.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 14, 2026
Mr. Cotton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the efficiency of the removal process by enhancing
cooperation between government entities and by expanding the grounds
for deportation for any alien to include any felony or any 2
misdemeanors.
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 ``Deportation Acceleration Act''.
SEC. 2. MANDATORY REAL-TIME DATA SHARING OF CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the
Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish a process for State and
local courts and law enforcement agencies to report every criminal
conviction of any individual who is not a United States citizen to the
Department of Homeland Security not later than 24 hours after entering
such conviction through integration with existing Federal databases,
including the database that was used by Secure Communities.
(b) Removal Proceedings.--Upon receiving information about a
criminal conviction of a noncitizen that renders such noncitizen
removable under section 237(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall
initiate removal proceedings by issuing a Notice to Appear (Form I-862)
to such noncitizen or an immigration detainer to the State or local law
enforcement agency that has custody of such noncitizen.
SEC. 3. EXPANDED USE OF EXPEDITED REMOVAL.
Section 238 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1228)
is amended--
(1) by striking the section header and inserting the
following: ``expedited removal of any noncitizen convicted of a
felony or 2 misdemeanors.'';
(2) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) in the paragraph heading, by striking
``in'' and inserting ``In''; and
(ii) by striking ``any criminal offense
covered in section 241(a)(2)(A)(iii), (B), (C),
or (D), or any offense covered by section
241(a)(2)(A)(ii) for which both predicate
offenses are, without regard to the date of
their commission, otherwise covered by section
241(a)(2)(A)(i)'' and inserting ``any felony or
2 misdemeanors'';
(B) by moving paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) 2 ems to
the right;
(C) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by striking ``an aggravated felony''
and inserting ``a felony or 2 misdemeanors'';
and
(ii) by striking ``felon'' and inserting
``alien'';
(D) in paragraph (3)--
(i) in the paragraph heading, by striking
``expedited'' and inserting ``Expedited''; and
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``an
aggravated felony before the alien's release
from incarceration for the underlying
aggravated felony'' and inserting ``a felony or
2 misdemeanors before the alien's release from
incarceration for the underlying crime''; and
(E) in paragraph (4), in the paragraph heading, by
striking ``review'' and inserting ``Review'';
(3) in subsection (b)--
(A) in the subsection header, by striking ``Who Are
Not Permanent Residents'';
(B) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and
inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General may determine the
deportability of an alien who has been convicted of a felony or
2 misdemeanors and issue an order of removal pursuant to the
procedures set forth in this subsection or in section 240.'';
and
(C) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and (5)
as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respectively;
(4) in the first subsection (c), by striking ``an
aggravated felony'' and inserting ``a felony or 2
misdemeanors''; and
(5) by redesignating the second subsection (c) as
subsection (d).
SEC. 4. SHORTENED APPEAL WINDOWS IN NON-ASYLUM REMOVAL CASES.
Section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S..C.
1229a) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Prioritization of criminal removal cases.--The
Attorney General shall--
``(A) prioritize criminal removal cases on
immigration court dockets; and
``(B) issue regulations to ensure, to the maximum
extent practicable, appeals in such cases are resolved
not later than 120 days after the relevant petition is
filed.'';
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (2)(A), in the matter preceding
clause (i), by striking ``The proceeding'' and
inserting ``Except as provided in subparagraphs (B) and
(C), the proceeding''; and
(B) in paragraph (5)(C), by striking ``180 days''
and inserting ``30 days''; and
(3) in subsection (c)(7)(C)(i), by striking ``90 days'' and
inserting ``30 days''.
SEC. 5. COOPERATION INCENTIVES AND HIGHWAY FUNDS PENALTIES FOR
SANCTUARY JURISDICTIONS.
(a) Defined Term.--In this section, the term ``sanctuary
jurisdiction'' means any State or political subdivision of a State that
has in effect any law, policy, or practice that prohibits or restricts
government entities or officials from--
(1) sharing citizenship or immigration status information
with the Department of Homeland Security; or
(2) complying with detainers or notification requests
issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
(b) Cooperation Incentives.--
(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security
$150,000,000 for fiscal year 2026 and every subsequent fiscal
year annually for competitive grants to be awarded to States
and local governments that fully cooperate with immigration
detainers, agreements authorized under section 287(g) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)), and
information sharing.
(2) Use of grant funds.--Grant funds awarded pursuant to
paragraph (1) may be used for detention capacity, officer
training, and enforcement equipment.
(c) Penalties.--
(1) In general.--Beginning on the first day of the first
fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Transportation, except as provided under
paragraph (2), shall withhold 15 percent of the funds a
sanctuary jurisdiction would otherwise receive from the Highway
Trust Fund apportionment in the relevant fiscal year unless the
sanctuary jurisdiction certifies to the Secretary of Homeland
Security that it no longer meets the definition of sanctuary
jurisdiction under paragraph (1).
(2) Grace period; appeals.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1)--
(A) each sanctuary jurisdictions shall be given 180
days from the date of notification that funding from
the Highway Trust Fund will be withheld to submit the
certification described in paragraph (1); and
(B) sanctuary jurisdictions may appeal a
withholding determination to the Attorney General on
grounds of undue hardship.
SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY.
The expedited removal of aliens convicted of a felony or 2
misdemeanors authorized under section 238 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, as amended by section 3, shall apply regardless of
whether the acts constituting the elements of the relevant crimes or
the conviction for such crimes occurred before, on, or after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
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