To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that aliens who have been convicted of or who have committed an offense for driving while intoxicated or impaired are inadmissible and deportable.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Jeremy and Angel Seay and Sergeant Brandon Mendoza Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act of 2025 adds driving while intoxicated or impaired to immigration inadmissibility and deportability rules. For inadmissibility, the bill covers any noncitizen who has been convicted of, admits committing, or admits acts constituting the essential elements of a driving while intoxicated or impaired offense. For deportability, it covers any noncitizen convicted of such an offense. The definition depends on the law of the jurisdiction where the conviction, offense, or acts occurred and includes driving under the influence of, or impaired by, alcohol or drugs. The rule applies regardless of whether the offense is classified as a misdemeanor or felony under federal, state, tribal, or local law.
Who Benefits and How
U.S. communities concerned about impaired driving benefit because immigration authorities would have explicit grounds to deny admission or pursue removal tied to DWI or impaired-driving offenses. Victims of impaired-driving crashes and their families benefit from a policy aimed at excluding or removing noncitizens with such offenses. Immigration officers benefit from a clear statutory ground rather than relying on other criminal grounds. State, tribal, and local law enforcement records become more relevant to immigration screening when they show covered impaired-driving convictions or admissions.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Noncitizens convicted of driving while intoxicated or impaired face inadmissibility or deportability even when the offense is a misdemeanor. Visa applicants and other noncitizens who admit the essential elements of an impaired-driving offense may be denied admission. Immigration judges, DHS attorneys, and consular officers must evaluate jurisdiction-specific DWI and impairment laws, convictions, and admissions. Families of removable noncitizens may bear separation and immigration-case consequences.
Key Provisions
- Adds driving while intoxicated or impaired as a new inadmissibility ground under INA section 212.
- Requires inadmissibility coverage for convictions, admissions of committing the offense, and admissions of acts constituting essential offense elements.
- Adds driving while intoxicated or impaired convictions as a new deportability ground under INA section 237.
- Defines covered impairment to include alcohol or drug impairment under the law of the jurisdiction where the offense occurred.
- Establishes that misdemeanor or felony classification under federal, state, tribal, or local law does not control the immigration consequence.
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
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make noncitizens inadmissible if they have been convicted of, admit committing, or admit acts constituting driving while intoxicated or impaired offenses, and deportable if convicted of driving while intoxicated or impaired, regardless of whether the offense is a misdemeanor or felony under federal, state, tribal, or local law.
Key Policy Areas
Immigration, Public Safety, Criminal Justice
Primary Purpose
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make noncitizens inadmissible if they have been convicted of, admit committing, or admit acts constituting driving while intoxicated or impaired offenses, and deportable if convicted of driving while intoxicated or impaired, regardless of whether the offense is a misdemeanor or felony under federal, state, tribal, or local law.
Policy Domains
House resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- U.S. communities concerned about impaired driving
- Victims of impaired-driving crashes
- Immigration officers
- State law enforcement agencies
- Tribal law enforcement agencies
- Local law enforcement agencies
Identified Costs
- Noncitizens convicted of impaired driving
- Visa applicants with impaired-driving admissions
- Immigration judges
- DHS attorneys
- Consular officers
- Families of removable noncitizens
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on the …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Additional sponsors: Mr. Brecheen, Mr. Biggs of Arizona, Mr. Tiffany, …
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Mr. Moore of Alabama (for himself, Mr. Burlison, Mr. Downing, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
DHS attorneys, Noncitizens convicted of impaired driving, Visa applicants with impaired-driving admissions
U.S. communities concerned about impaired driving, Victims of impaired-driving crashes
On Passage
Jeremy and Angel Seay and Sergeant Brandon Mendoza Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "ina"
- → Immigration and Nationality Act
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