Kate's Law
Latest action. Received in the Senate.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
Kate's Law
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise provisions relating to the reentry of removed aliens.
The bill provides that an alien who has been excluded, deported, removed, or denied admission, or who has departed the United States while under an outstanding order of exclusion, deportation, or removal, and who subsequently crosses or attempts to cross the border into the United States, shall be fined, imprisoned not more than two years, or both. ("Crosses the border" refers to the physical act of crossing the border, regardless of whether the alien is free from official restraint.)
The bill revises reentry of criminal offender provisions to provide that an alien who was convicted before such removal or departure of:
three or more misdemeanors or for a felony shall be fined, imprisoned up to 10 years, or both;
a felony for which the alien was sentenced to not less than 30 months in prison shall be fined, imprisoned up to 15 years, or both;
a felony for which the alien was sentenced to not less than 60 months shall be fined, imprisoned up to 20 years, or both; or
murder, rape, kidnapping, or a felony offense relating to peonage and slavery or terrorism, or of three or more felonies of any kind, shall be fined, imprisoned up to 25 years, or both.
An alien who has been excluded, deported, removed, or denied admission three or more times and thereafter enters, attempts to enter, or crosses or attempts to cross the border to, or is at any time found in, the United States shall be fined, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
The bill states that it shall be an affirmative defense to a reentry violation (thus placing the burden of proof on the defendant) that: (1) prior to the alleged violation, the alien had received Department of Homeland Security (DHS) consent to reapply for U.S. admission; or (2) with respect to an alien previously denied admission and removed, the alien was not required to obtain such advance consent and had complied with all other applicable admissions laws and regulations.
The summary continues for 2 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House without amendment" stage on June 29, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Received in the Senate.
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Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
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The record's latest action, on July 10, 2017: Received in the Senate.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
ROBERT GOODLATTE (R-VA) introduced it on June 22, 2017, and 17 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 17 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 22, 2017, 3367 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3349 days ago, on July 10, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseReceived in the Senate.
- SenateNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action