S. 149Senate119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

Public Safety First Act

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Updated November 24, 2025 at 3:27 AM UTC

The Public Safety First Act expands immigration law to treat non‑citizen individuals charged with serious theft‑related crimes as inadmissible. It adds a new ground for denial of entry and obligates the Department of Homeland Security to detain such individuals, even if they are not already held by other law‑enforcement agencies. The bill primarily affects aliens who face charges for burglary, theft, shoplifting, assault on police, or crimes causing death or serious injury.

Key Provisions

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to add a new category of inadmissible aliens who are charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or admit committing burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, assault on a law‑enforcement officer, or any crime causing death or serious bodily injury.
Defines the terms burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, assault on a law‑enforcement officer, and serious bodily injury according to the laws of the jurisdiction where the acts occurred.
Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue a detainer for any alien fitting this new definition and, if the person is not already in custody by federal, state, or local authorities, to take the alien into custody promptly.

Legislative Activity

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SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

January 17, 2025

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

January 17, 2025

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

January 17, 2025

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued January 17, 2025

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 149

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 17, 2025

Mr. Cornyn introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the United States with theft, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Public Safety First Act.

Detention of certain aliens who commit theft

Section 236(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226(c)) is amended—

(1)

in paragraph (1)—

(A)

in subparagraph (C), by striking or;

(B)

in subparagraph (D), by striking the comma at the end and inserting , or; and

(C)

by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:

(E)

(i)

is inadmissible under paragraph (6)(A), (6)(C), or (7) of section 212(a); and

(ii)

is charged with, is arrested for, is convicted of, admits having committed, or admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of any burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, or assault of a law enforcement officer offense, or any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person,

;

(2)

by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (4); and

(3)

by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

(2)

Definition

For purposes of paragraph (1)(E), the terms burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, assault of a law enforcement officer, and serious bodily injury have the meanings given such terms in the jurisdiction in which the acts occurred.

(3)

Detainer

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue a detainer for an alien described in paragraph (1)(E) and, if the alien is not otherwise detained by Federal, State, or local officials, shall effectively and expeditiously take custody of the alien.