Raises prison penalties for unlawful entry and for reentry after deportation

§1What it does

Why this matters: A plain-English description of the bill as it was voted on, written by us from the official summary and text.

✎ Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

This bill would set a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 5 years, with up to life in prison, for a noncitizen who enters the United States unlawfully, such as by avoiding inspection, and is later convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison.^2,3,4 It would raise the maximum prison term for repeat unlawful entry from 2 to 5 years, and for coming back after being denied entry or deported from 2 to 10 years.^3,4 For people who return or try to return after being deported, the maximum would be 15 years if they had three or more misdemeanor convictions involving drugs or crimes against people before being deported, and the sentence would be a mandatory minimum of 10 years, up to life, if they had been convicted of a felony or another crime punishable by more than a year.^3,4 The version the House passed dropped a provision of the original bill that would also have applied the 10-year minimum to people convicted of illegal reentry at least twice before.⁴

§2Status

§3How Congress voted

Why this matters: The official count.