Congress expands deportation for harming police dogs—but only for non-citizens

What it does

This bill amends immigration law to make any non-citizen who harms a law enforcement animal (such as a police dog) inadmissible to the U.S. and deportable if already present. It adds harming law enforcement animals to the list of crimes that trigger automatic immigration consequences, treating it the same as other serious criminal convictions.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is straightforward: it adds a specific criminal conviction (harming law enforcement animals) to the list of grounds for immigration inadmissibility and deportability. This is a targeted expansion of immigration enforcement tied to a particular crime category.

What the text implies

• The 'admits having committed' language may allow deportation based on statements or confessions without formal conviction, potentially lowering the evidentiary bar compared to the conviction standard.
• Non-citizens convicted of harming law enforcement animals face automatic deportation, while U.S. citizens convicted of the same crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1368 face only criminal penalties—creating a two-tier consequence system.
• The bill does not define 'harming' or reference the specific elements of § 1368, so its scope depends entirely on how that federal statute is interpreted and applied by prosecutors and immigration courts.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill protects law enforcement animals from harm by creating immigration consequences for abusers, which serves a legitimate public safety interest. However, it also expands deportation grounds for a specific crime in a way that may result in disproportionate consequences for non-citizens compared to citizens convicted of the same offense, and the breadth of 'admits committing acts' language could capture conduct below the threshold of formal conviction.

Named in the bill

Immigration and Nationality Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1368, Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, law enforcement agencies

Where it stands

19 cosponsors: 19 Republicans.

• Jul 23, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jul 23, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
• Nov 18, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Nov 20, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 18 - 12”
• Mar 19, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 228 - 190 (Roll no. 96).”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $790,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 24 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.

Ken Calvert, the sponsor, reported $1,368,100 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc. — $480,000 on 1 filing
• Service Employees International Union Ctw-clc — $300,000 on 1 filing
• National Immigration Law Center (nilc) — $10,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.