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Asylum Reform and Loophole Closure Act
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify eligibility for asylum, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify asylum eligibility requirements. It bars asylum eligibility for aliens who transited through other countries en route to the United States without applying for protection in each country, unless they received final denials of protection. The bill also makes asylum ineligible those who entered illegally or obtained entry through fraud or misrepresentation. Additionally, it raises the standard for establishing credible fear of persecution from "significant possibility" to "more likely than not," and permits detention of children with parents for up to 180 days during asylum proceedings.
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. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] (R-AR)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Tom Cotton’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $80,461
- APOLLO MANAGEMENT $25,600
- APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT $19,800
- BRODIE GENERATIONAL CAPITAL PARTNERS $13,200
- APOLLO $11,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Tom Cotton → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Dec 16, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. · senate
- Dec 16, 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
December 16, 2025
Mr. Cotton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify eligibility for asylum, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Asylum Reform and Loophole Closure Act”.
SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF ASYLUM ELIGIBILITY.
(a) In General.—Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(2)—
(A) in subparagraph (A)—
(i) by striking “if the Attorney General determines that” and inserting “if the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that—”;
(ii) by striking “the alien may be” and inserting the following:
“(i) the alien may be”;
(iii) by inserting “or the Secretary of Homeland Security” before “finds that”;
(iv) by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
(v) adding at the end the following:
“(ii) the alien entered, attempted to enter, or arrived in the United States after transiting through at least one country outside the alien’s country of nationality (or, in the case of an alien having no nationality, the country of the alien’s last habitual residence) en route to the United States, unless the alien demonstrates that he or she applied for protection from persecution or torture in each such country through which the alien so transited, and the alien received a final judgement denying the alien protection in such country.”;
(B) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (D);
(C) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (E) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively;
(D) in subparagraph (B), as redesignated, by striking “Subject to subparagraph (D), paragraph (1)” and inserting “Paragraph (1)”; and
(E) in subparagraph (C), as redesignated, by striking “Subparagraphs (A) and (B)” and inserting “Subparagraph (A)”.
(b) Permanent Ineligibility for Illegal Entry or Visa Fraud.— Section 208(b)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(A)) is amended—
(1) in clause (v), by striking “; or” and inserting a semicolon;
(2) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(vii) the alien—
“(I) has committed, or attempted to commit, unlawful entry in violation of section 275; or
“(II) has attempted to enter or has obtained entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, including by attempting to obtain or obtaining a fraudulent visa.”.
(c) Higher Standard for Establishing Credible Fear of Persecution.—Section 235(b)(1)(B)(v) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(B)(v)) is amended by striking “there is a significant possibility” and inserting “it is more likely than not”.
(d) Permissible Period of Family Detention.—During expedited removal or asylum proceedings under section 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225), a child may be detained together with his or her parent for a period of not more than 180 days. <all>
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