Deport Alien Gang Members Act

The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to define "criminal gang" and make any noncitizen who is or was a gang member, or who aided or participated in a gang's illegal activity, inadmissible to enter the United States and deportable if already present. It would require mandatory detention for such individuals and make them ineligible for asylum, withholding of removal to certain countries, temporary protected status, special immigrant juvenile visas, and most forms of parole, except when assisting a law-enforcement investigation. It would also create a new process letting the Secretary of Homeland Security formally designate a group of five or more people as a criminal gang, with advance notice to Congress, Federal Register publication, an administrative record, and a right for designated groups to petition for review and seek judicial review in the D.C. Circuit. The bill does not create new criminal penalties itself; it changes immigration consequences and procedures. Its changes would apply retroactively to conduct occurring before, on, or after enactment.

Noncitizens alleged to have gang ties, including those seeking asylum, temporary protected status, special immigrant juvenile status, or parole; the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice, which would administer designations and detention; immigration courts; and groups formally designated as criminal gangs, which could petition for judicial review.

Individuals accused of gang association could face mandatory detention and lose access to asylum, humanitarian protections, and most relief from deportation, even for past conduct predating the law. The retroactive application and reliance on government officials' 'reason to believe' standard could expand who is swept into these categories, while the designation process gives DHS broad new discretionary authority.

DHS, in consultation with the Attorney General, would designate groups as criminal gangs by notifying congressional leadership and relevant committees seven days in advance, then publishing the designation in the Federal Register. Designated groups could petition for revocation starting two years after designation, with DHS required to rule within 30 days; DHS would also periodically review designations every five years. Judicial review would be limited to the D.C. Circuit, based on the administrative record and any classified information submitted ex parte. DHS would also report annually to House and Senate Judiciary Committees on the number of aliens detained under the new mandatory-detention provision.