New felony for 'interfering' with ICE—but the law doesn't say what that means
H.R. 4226 — ICE Act · Filed by Randy Fine (R-FL) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 27, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill adds a new federal crime: knowingly interfering with ICE officers during immigration enforcement operations. The penalty is up to 5 years in prison and/or fines. The bill does not define 'interferes' or 'impedes,' leaving those terms to judicial interpretation. Citizens who obstruct, delay, or damage property used by ICE during enforcement could face felony charges.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is adding a new felony offense to the Immigration and Nationality Act. It does not reform immigration policy, appropriate funds, or create new agencies—it criminalizes interference with ICE enforcement with undefined statutory language.
What the text implies
- The terms 'impedes' and 'interferes' are not defined, creating prosecutorial discretion to charge conduct ranging from legal observation to protest to accidental delay. Courts will have to litigate the boundary between lawful First Amendment activity and criminal obstruction.
- The bill does not distinguish between violent interference, property damage, and non-violent obstruction or presence. A person standing near an ICE operation could potentially be charged if their presence is deemed to 'impede' enforcement.
- The 5-year felony exposure may chill lawful conduct: legal observers, journalists, and advocates may avoid immigration enforcement sites to avoid criminal liability, reducing public transparency of enforcement practices.
- The bill does not require intent to harm or knowledge that conduct would impede enforcement—'knowingly impedes' may be read to require only knowledge of the conduct itself, not knowledge of its obstructive effect.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill creates a broad new felony with undefined boundaries ('impedes,' 'interferes') that could criminalize lawful conduct—legal observation of enforcement, protest, or even accidental obstruction. Citizens lose clarity about what conduct is criminal and gain exposure to 5-year felony sentences for vague conduct near ICE operations.
Named in the bill
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), Title 18, United States Code, Section 274, INA
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Republicans.
- Jun 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (644 characters) on Jun 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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