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To include sexual assault and aggravated sexual violence in the definition of aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act in order to expedite the removal of aliens convicted of any such crime.
Summary
The BE GONE Act (Better Enforcement of Grievous Offenses by unNaturalized Emigrants) amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to classify sexual assault and aggravated sexual violence as "aggravated felonies" for immigration purposes. This change would make non-citizens convicted of sexual assault or aggravated sexual violence subject to expedited removal procedures under immigration law. The bill adds sexual assault and aggravated sexual violence to the list of crimes defined as aggravated felonies in Section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, aligning these offenses with other serious crimes that result in removal eligibility.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (R-IA)
18 cosponsors
- Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] (R-ME)
- Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] (R-ND)
- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (R-ID)
- Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] (R-TX)
- Sen. Graham, Darline [R-SC] (R-SC)
- Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC] (R-SC)
- Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (R-IA)
- Sen. Hawley, Josh [R-MO] (R-MO)
- Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND] (R-ND)
- Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS] (R-MS)
- Sen. Justice, James C. [R-WV] (R-WV)
- Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK)
- Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] (R-UT)
- Sen. Marshall, Roger [R-KS] (R-KS)
- Sen. McCormick, David [R-PA] (R-PA)
- Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE] (R-NE)
- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID)
- Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC] (R-SC)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Joni Ernst’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $57,653
- CAPITAL GROUP $40,000
- SOROBAN CAPITAL $13,200
- CAPITAL GROUP COMPANIES $7,500
- GOOGLE $6,800
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Joni Ernst → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Apr 29, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. · senate
- Apr 29, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 29, 2025
Ms. Ernst (for herself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Justice, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Graham, Mr. Risch, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Lee, Mr. Ricketts, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, and Mrs. Hyde-Smith) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To include sexual assault and aggravated sexual violence in the definition of aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act in order to expedite the removal of aliens convicted of any such crime.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.
This Act may be cited as the “Better Enforcement of Grievous Offenses by unNaturalized Emigrants” or the “BE GONE Act”.
SEC. 2. EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF AGGRAVATED FELONIES UNDER THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT.
Section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (T), by striking “and” at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (U), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(V) sexual assault and aggravated sexual violence.”. <all>
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