Keep Americans Safe Act of 2005
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims.
Keep Americans Safe Act of 2005 - Affirms state and local authority to investigate, apprehend, arrest, detain, or transfer to federal custody aliens in the United States in the course of carrying out routine duties in order to assist in the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
Directs the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide the National Crime Information Center with information on aliens: (1) against whom a final order of removal has been issued; (2) who have signed a voluntary departure agreement; and (3) whose visas have been revoked.
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to direct, upon state or appropriate local request, the Secretary of DHS to: (1) take an illegal alien into federal custody, or request that the relevant state or local law enforcement agency temporarily incarcerate or transport the alien for transfer to federal custody; and (2) designate at least one federal, state, or local prison, or a private contracted prison or detention facility within each state as the central facility for that state to transfer custody of aliens to DHS.
Provides for DHS reimbursement of state and local costs incurred in the incarceration and transportation of illegal aliens.
Amends federal criminal law to provide that: (1) an illegal alien who commits a felony shall be fined and sentenced to not less than five years in prison; (2) if the defendant was previously ordered removed under INA on the grounds of having committed a crime, he or she shall be sentenced to not less than 15 years in prison; and (3) a sentence of imprisonment imposed under this section shall run consecutively to any other sentence of imprisonment imposed for any other crime.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on October 28, 2005. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 6, 2006: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
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 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, 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?
BOB NEY (R-OH) introduced it on October 28, 2005. No cosponsors are recorded.
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 October 28, 2005, 7622 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7521 days ago, on February 6, 2006.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 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
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers