Visa Overstay Penalties Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1937 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1937

 To amend section 275 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand 
           penalties for illegal entry and unlawful presence.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 3, 2025

   Mr. Banks introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend section 275 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand 
           penalties for illegal entry and unlawful presence.

    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 ``Visa Overstay Penalties Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. EXPANDED PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL ENTRY OR PRESENCE.

    Section 275 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1325) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``or if the alien was 
        previously convicted of an offense under subsection (e)(2)(A)'' 
        after ``for a subsequent commission of any such offense'';
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``at least $50 
                and not more than $250'' and inserting ``not less than 
                $500 and not more than $1,000''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or subsection 
                (e)(2)(B)'' after ``in the case of an alien who has 
                been previously subject to a civil penalty under this 
                subsection''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Visa Overstays.--
            ``(1) In general.--An alien who was admitted as a 
        nonimmigrant has violated this paragraph if the alien, for an 
        aggregate of 10 days or more, has failed--
                    ``(A) to maintain the nonimmigrant status in which 
                the alien was admitted, or to which it was changed 
                under section 248, including complying with the period 
                of stay authorized by the Secretary of Homeland 
                Security in connection with such status; or
                    ``(B) to comply otherwise with the conditions of 
                such nonimmigrant status.
            ``(2) Penalties.--An alien who has violated paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) shall--
                            ``(i) for the first commission of such a 
                        violation, be fined under title 18, United 
                        States Code, or imprisoned not more than 6 
                        months, or both; and
                            ``(ii) for a subsequent commission of such 
                        a violation, or if the alien was previously 
                        convicted of an offense under subsection (a), 
                        be fined under such title 18, or imprisoned not 
                        more than 2 years, or both; and
                    ``(B) in addition to, and not in lieu of, any 
                penalty under subparagraph (A) and any other criminal 
                or civil penalties that may be imposed, shall be 
                subject to a civil penalty of--
                            ``(i) not less than $500 and not more than 
                        $1,000 for each violation; or
                            ``(ii) twice the amount specified in clause 
                        (i), in the case of an alien who has been 
                        previously subject to a civil penalty under 
                        this subparagraph or subsection (b).''.
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