New House Rules Package Proposes Bill to Make Assaulting Law Enforcement Officers a Deportable Offense

The 119th Congress is set to be sworn in Jan. 3, with Republicans set to control both chambers of Congress. As they gear up to push their agenda, House Republicans recently released their newly proposed rules package, which includes some insight into new bills related to immigration.

The new 36-page rules package, unveiled on Wednesday, lists a plethora of guidelines and bills that the chamber of Congress will abide by for the duration of their term. The document includes several directives on immigration, an issue that Republicans, led by President-elect Donald Trump, have vowed to crack down.

One of the proposals suggests "a bill to make the assault of a law enforcement officer a deportable offense, and for other purposes."

That proposal would be a continuation of a similar bill from 2023, which made it a deportable offense to assault an officer, including police, firefighters and other first responders. That legislation included not only migrants who were convicted of assaulting an officer, but also those who admit they assaulted or were involved in the assault of a law enforcement officer.

At the time when that bill was passed, Democrats and the Biden administration raised concerns that the bill was so broad that migrants could get deported for actions they were merely accused of.

The Biden administration also said at the time that while it "believes that anyone who assaults a law enforcement officer should be punished appropriately," they considered the bill "could potentially sweep up even non-violent or unintentional conduct, resulting in deportation of even long-term lawful permanent residents with otherwise unblemished records."

Under immigration law, certain criminal convictions can lead to deportation, including: Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMT), which depends on the intent to harm and the severity of the act; aggravated felonies, which involves severe injuries, the use of deadly weapons and more; crimes of domestic violence or other violent crimes, and more.

However, each case is evaluated on the specifics of the incident, the conviction, and immigration status, according to Shouse California Law Group.

But the assault of law enforcement officers was not the only bill proposed in the new House package. In fact, several other immigration bills were put forth in the incoming Congress' orders of business, including a bill that prevents sanctuary jurisdictions from being ineligible for Federal funds that benefit undocumented immigrants, a bill that requires the Department of Homeland Security to take into custody migrants who have been charged with theft, a bill to make migrants convicted of sex offenses or domestic violence inadmissible and deportable; and more.

The House is set to vote on the package on Jan. 3, when the new Congress convenes, after the speaker is elected and members are sworn in. Rules packages are typically approved along party lines, but as the House GOP kicks off the new year with some in-party divisions and with only a 219-215 majority, it remains unclear how smoothly the proposed rules will be approved.