The “Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act” has passed the U.S. House of Representatives (June 26, 2025) and is now in the Senate. It is not law as of today (September 1, 2025). If enacted in its current form, it would make any DUI—even a misdemeanor—an explicit ground to deny admission to the U.S. and a separate ground to deport non-citizens after a conviction. That’s a major shift from current federal immigration law, where most simple DUIs do not automatically trigger deportation.
Where the bill stands and what it says
The House-passed bill (H.R. 875 in the 119th Congress) would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) in two key ways:
- Inadmissibility (INA §212): A non-citizen would be inadmissible if they were convicted of, admit having committed, or admit committing the essential elements of a DUI/DWI (as defined by the state/tribal/federal jurisdiction), whether classified as a misdemeanor or felony.
- Deportability (INA §237): A non-citizen would be deportable upon any DUI/DWI conviction, again regardless of misdemeanor/felony label under local law.
The text explicitly includes impairment by alcohol or drugs and defers to the law of the jurisdiction for the definition of the offense. Continue reading