I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5065 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that individuals 

who naturalized under title III of that Act, who are affiliated with 

a criminal gang, are subject to revocation of citizenship, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2018 

Mr. ZELDIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 

that individuals who naturalized under title III of that 

Act, who are affiliated with a criminal gang, are subject 

to revocation of citizenship, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Our Com5 munities from Gang Violence Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL GANG MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS DIS2 QUALIFIED FROM GOOD MORAL CHARACTER 

3 PROVISION. 

4 Section 101(f) of the Immigration and Nationality 

5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(f)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9), the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(10) one whom the Secretary of Homeland Se13 curity or the Attorney General determines, in the 

14 unreviewable discretion of the Secretary of Home15 land Security or the Attorney General, to be an alien 

16 who— 

17 ‘‘(A) is or has ever been a member, asso18 ciate or affiliate of, or who has ever provided 

19 material support to, a criminal gang; or 

20 ‘‘(B) is or has ever been a member, asso21 ciate or affiliate of, or who has ever provided 

22 material support to, a criminal street gang as 

23 defined in section 520 of title 18, United States 

24 Code.’’; and 

25 (4) by adding at the end, at the end of the mat26 ter following paragraph (10) (as inserted in this secVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Feb 23, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5065.IH H5065

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1 tion) the following: ‘‘A determination by the Sec2 retary of Homeland Security or Attorney General 

3 that an alien does not exhibit good moral character 

4 based on gang membership, association, affiliation, 

5 or provision of material support, may be based upon 

6 any relevant information or evidence, including clas7 sified, law enforcement sensitive, or national security 

8 information and shall be binding upon any court re9 gardless of the applicable standard of review.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF CRIMINAL GANG. 

11 Section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

12 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(53) The term ‘criminal gang’ means an ongo15 ing group, club, organization, or association of five 

16 or more persons that has as one of its primary pur17 poses the commission of one or more of the following 

18 criminal offenses and the members of which engage, 

19 or have engaged within the past 5 years, in a con20 tinuing series of such offenses, or that has been des21 ignated as a criminal gang by the Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attor23 ney General, as meeting these criteria. The offenses 

24 described, whether in violation of Federal or State 

25 law or foreign law and regardless of whether the ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Feb 23, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5065.IH H5065

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1 fenses occurred before, on, or after the date of the 

2 enactment of this paragraph, are the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) A ‘felony drug offense’ (as defined in 

4 section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act 

5 (21 U.S.C. 802)). 

6 ‘‘(B) An offense under section 274 (relat7 ing to bringing in and harboring certain aliens), 

8 section 277 (relating to aiding or assisting cer9 tain aliens to enter the United States), or sec10 tion 278 (relating to importation of alien for 

11 immoral purpose). 

12 ‘‘(C) A crime of violence (as defined in sec13 tion 16 of title 18, United States Code). 

14 ‘‘(D) A crime involving obstruction of jus15 tice, tampering with or retaliating against a 

16 witness, victim, or informant, or burglary. 

17 ‘‘(E) Any conduct punishable under sec18 tions 1028 and 1029 of title 18, United States 

19 Code (relating to fraud and related activity in 

20 connection with identification documents or ac21 cess devices), sections 1581 through 1594 of 

22 such title (relating to peonage, slavery, and 

23 trafficking in persons), section 1951 of such 

24 title (relating to interference with commerce by 

25 threats or violence), section 1952 of such title 


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1 (relating to interstate and foreign travel or 

2 transportation in aid of racketeering enter3 prises), section 1956 of such title (relating to 

4 the laundering of monetary instruments), sec5 tion 1957 of such title (relating to engaging in 

6 monetary transactions in property derived from 

7 specified unlawful activity), or sections 2312 

8 through 2315 of such title (relating to inter9 state transportation of stolen motor vehicles or 

10 stolen property). 

11 ‘‘(F) A conspiracy to commit an offense 

12 described in subparagraphs (A) through (E).’’. 

13 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AGAINST FILING. 

14 No person who— 

15 (1) is or has ever been a member, associate or 

16 affiliate of, or who has ever provided material sup17 port to, a criminal gang as defined in section 101 

18 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; or 

19 (2) is or has ever been a member, associate or 

20 affiliate of, or who has ever provided material sup21 port to, a criminal street gang as defined in section 

22 520 of title 18 of the United States Code, 

23 shall be permitted to file an application or petition, or sub24 mit an affidavit of support, on behalf of an alien under 

25 any provision of the immigration laws, nor shall such perVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Feb 23, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5065.IH H5065

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1 son be permitted to assume custodial care for an unaccom2 panied alien minor. 

3 SEC. 5. DENATURALIZATION OF CRIMINAL GANG MEMBERS 

4 AND SUPPORTERS. 

5 Section 340 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

6 (8 U.S.C. 1451) is amended by striking subsection (c) and 

7 inserting the following language— 

8 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP IN CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS; 

9 PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a person who shall have 

11 been naturalized after December 24, 1952, shall 

12 within 10 years following such naturalization become 

13 a member of or affiliated with any organization, 

14 membership in or affiliation with which at the time 

15 of naturalization would have precluded such person 

16 from naturalization under the provisions of section 

17 313, it shall be considered prima facie evidence that 

18 such person was not attached to the principles of the 

19 Constitution of the United States and was not well 

20 disposed to the good order and happiness of the 

21 United States at the time of naturalization, and, in 

22 the absence of countervailing evidence, it shall be 

23 sufficient in the proper proceeding to authorize the 

24 revocation and setting aside of the order admitting 

25 such person to citizenship and the cancellation of the 


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1 certificate of naturalization as having been obtained 

2 by concealment of a material fact or by willful mis3 representation, and such revocation and setting 

4 aside of the order admitting such person to citizen5 ship and such canceling of certificate of naturaliza6 tion shall be effective as of the original date of the 

7 order and certificate, respectively. 

8 ‘‘(2) ORGANIZATION, MEMBERSHIP IN OR AF9 FILIATION WITH WHICH AT THE TIME OF NATU10 RALIZATION WOULD HAVE PRECLUDED SUCH PER11 SON FROM NATURALIZATION.—The phrase ‘any or12 ganization, membership in or affiliation with which 

13 at the time of naturalization would have precluded 

14 such person from naturalization’ shall be deemed to 

15 include an alien who— 

16 ‘‘(A) is or has ever been a member, asso17 ciate or affiliate of, or who has ever provided 

18 material support to, a criminal gang; or 

19 ‘‘(B) is or has ever been a member, asso20 ciate or affiliate of, or who has ever provided 

21 material support to, a criminal street gang as 

22 defined in section 520 of title 18 of the United 

23 States Code.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

3 on the date of the enactment, shall apply to any act that 

4 occurred before, on, or after the date of enactment, and 

5 shall apply to any application for naturalization or any 

6 other benefit or relief, or any other case or matter under 

7 the immigration laws pending on or filed after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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