Halo Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Halo Act creates a new federal offense for conduct within 25 feet of a federal immigration enforcement officer. The officer must be lawfully performing a legal duty, give a verbal warning not to approach, and be someone the person knows or reasonably should know is a federal immigration enforcement officer.
After that warning, the person must knowingly approach or remain within 25 feet and act with intent to impede or interfere with the officer's duty, threaten physical harm, or harass the officer. Harassment is defined as a knowing course of conduct directed at the officer that intentionally causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose.
A violation is punishable by a fine, imprisonment for up to five years, or both. The definition of federal immigration enforcement officer is broad enough to include an officer, agent, or federal employee authorized to prevent, detect, investigate, or prosecute violations of federal immigration law.
The bill does not create a permanent 25-foot exclusion zone around every immigration officer. Liability requires a verbal warning, knowledge, lawful duty, a knowing distance violation, and one of the listed intents. Peaceful observation, recording, journalism, or protest with a legitimate purpose is not expressly prohibited, but disputes over intent, distance, warning clarity, and what counts as interference or legitimate purpose can expose observers to arrest and prosecution.
Who Benefits and How
ICE officers, Border Patrol agents, and other federal immigration personnel gain a clear buffer after warning people away from an operation. Prosecutors gain a tailored offense that covers intentional interference, threats, and emotionally harmful harassment before physical assault occurs.
Who Bears the Burden and How
People who intentionally interfere or threaten officers face felony-level imprisonment. Protesters, journalists, legal observers, and bystanders near enforcement activity face legal risk when an officer gives a warning and later disputes intent or distance. Investigators, courts, prosecutors, and defenders must prove or contest each knowledge, purpose, and warning element.
Key Provisions
- Defines federal immigration enforcement officers broadly.
- Defines harassment through intentional substantial emotional distress.
- Requires an officer to perform a lawful legal duty.
- Requires a verbal warning not to approach.
- Requires knowledge or reason to know officer status.
- Establishes a 25-foot post-warning boundary.
- Prohibits intentional interference with the duty.
- Prohibits intentional threats of physical harm.
- Prohibits intentional statutorily defined harassment.
- Authorizes imprisonment for up to five years.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a federal crime punishable by up to five years for knowingly disobeying an immigration enforcement officer's verbal warning and approaching or remaining within 25 feet with intent to impede lawful duties, threaten physical harm, or cause defined intentional harassment.
Key Policy Areas
Immigration Enforcement, Federal Criminal Law, Officer Safety, Public Demonstrations, Press Observation
Primary Purpose
Creates a federal crime punishable by up to five years for knowingly disobeying an immigration enforcement officer's verbal warning and approaching or remaining within 25 feet with intent to impede lawful duties, threaten physical harm, or cause defined intentional harassment.
Policy Domains
Section 2 officer definitions, 25-foot offense elements, prohibited intents, and penalty
Identified Gains
- Federal immigration enforcement officers
- ICE field officers
- Border Patrol agents
- Federal prosecutors handling immigration obstruction
- Families of immigration enforcement officers
Identified Costs
- People intentionally threatening immigration officers
- People intentionally impeding immigration duties
- Protesters near immigration enforcement
- Journalists documenting immigration operations
- Legal observers monitoring immigration arrests
- Bystanders receiving officer warnings
- Federal criminal investigators
- Federal courts hearing buffer-zone cases
- Federal public defenders
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Mr. Rulli (for himself, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Simpson, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Border Patrol agents, Federal courts hearing buffer-zone cases, Federal criminal investigators
Positive-direction: Border Patrol agents, Federal immigration enforcement officers, Federal prosecutors handling immigration obstruction, ICE field officers
Negative-direction: Federal courts hearing buffer-zone cases, Federal criminal investigators, Federal public defenders
People intentionally impeding immigration duties, People intentionally threatening immigration officers
Journalists documenting immigration operations
Legal observers monitoring immigration arrests
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "officer"
- → Federal employee enforcing or prosecuting immigration law
- "observer"
- → Person present near an immigration enforcement operation
- "defendant"
- → Person accused of violating the post-warning boundary
- "protester"
- → Person demonstrating near an immigration officer
- "prosecutor"
- → Federal prosecutor proving the new offense
Note: {'scope_ids': ['immigration_officer_post_warning_buffer'], 'description': 'The offense is not a blanket distance rule: it requires a warning, knowledge, lawful duty, a knowing 25-foot violation, and prohibited intent; nevertheless, undefined measurement and interference questions can chill legitimate observation even though harassment excludes conduct with a legitimate purpose.'}
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A knowing course of conduct directed at an officer that intentionally causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose.
Knowing approach or presence within 25 feet after a verbal warning, with intent to interfere, threaten physical harm, or harass during lawful duty.
A federal officer, agent, or employee authorized to prevent, detect, investigate, or prosecute a federal immigration-law violation.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology