I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4996 

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 8, 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; 

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; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) has been convicted of or has admitted 

2 committing the essential elements of the fol3 lowing offenses— 

4 ‘‘(i) a felony drug offense (as defined 

5 in section 102 of the Controlled Sub6 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)); or 

7 ‘‘(ii) has engaged in conduct punish8 able under section 274, 277, or 278 of the 

9 Immigration and Nationality Act; or 

10 ‘‘(iii) committed a crime of violence 

11 (as defined in section 16 of title 18, United 

12 States Code); or 

13 ‘‘(iv) committed a crime involving ob14 struction of justice, tampering with or re15 taliating against a witness, victim, or in16 formant, or burglary; or 

17 ‘‘(v) engaged in conduct punishable 

18 under section 1028 or 1029, and sections 

19 1541 through 1546 of title 18, United 

20 States Code; or 

21 ‘‘(vi) engaged in conduct punishable 

22 under sections 1581 through 1594 of title 

23 18, United States Code; or 


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1 ‘‘(vii) engaged in conduct punishable 

2 under sections 1951, 1952, 1956, and 

3 1957 of title 18, United States Code; or 

4 ‘‘(viii) engaged in conduct punishable 

5 under sections 2312 through 2315 of title 

6 18, United States Code; or 

7 ‘‘(ix) attempted to engage in an of8 fense described in paragraphs (1) through 

9 (8) above, or engaged in conduct punish10 able under sections 2 through 4, and sec11 tions 371 through 373 of title 18, United 

12 States Code, in furtherance of such an of13 fense.’’; and 

14 (4) by adding at the end, at the end of the mat15 ter following paragraph (10) (as inserted in this sec16 tion), the following: ‘‘An alien shall be deemed to 

17 have ‘admitted the essential elements of an offense’ 

18 upon an oral or written statement to such effect, or 

19 upon a conviction or formal finding by a competent 

20 Federal, State or local court, tribunal or military 

21 proceeding that said person has engaged in unlawful 

22 conduct whose essential elements include those that 

23 would be required for conviction of a disqualifying 

24 offense. A determination by the Secretary of Home25 land Security or Attorney General that an alien does 


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1 not exhibit good moral character based on gang 

2 membership, association, affiliation, or provision of 

3 material support, may be based upon any relevant 

4 information or evidence, including classified, law en5 forcement sensitive, or national security information 

6 and shall be binding upon any court regardless of 

7 the applicable standard of review.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF CRIMINAL GANG. 

9 Section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

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

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(53) The term ‘criminal gang’ means an ongo13 ing group, club, organization, or association of five 

14 or more persons that has as one of its primary pur15 poses the commission of one or more of the following 

16 criminal offenses and the members of which engage, 

17 or have engaged within the past 5 years, in a con18 tinuing series of such offenses, or that has been des19 ignated as a criminal gang by the Secretary of 

20 Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attor21 ney General, as meeting these criteria. The offenses 

22 described, whether in violation of Federal or State 

23 law or foreign law and regardless of whether the of24 fenses occurred before, on, or after the date of the 

25 enactment of this paragraph, are the following: 


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

2 section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act 

3 (21 U.S.C. 802)). 

4 ‘‘(B) An offense under section 274 (relat5 ing to bringing in and harboring certain aliens), 

6 section 277 (relating to aiding or assisting cer7 tain aliens to enter the United States), or sec8 tion 278 (relating to importation of alien for 

9 immoral purpose). 

10 ‘‘(C) A crime of violence (as defined in sec11 tion 16 of title 18, United States Code). 

12 ‘‘(D) A crime involving obstruction of jus13 tice, tampering with or retaliating against a 

14 witness, victim, or informant, or burglary. 

15 ‘‘(E) Any conduct punishable under sec16 tions 1028 and 1029 of title 18, United States 

17 Code (relating to fraud and related activity in 

18 connection with identification documents or ac19 cess devices), sections 1581 through 1594 of 

20 such title (relating to peonage, slavery, and 

21 trafficking in persons), section 1951 of such 

22 title (relating to interference with commerce by 

23 threats or violence), section 1952 of such title 

24 (relating to interstate and foreign travel or 

25 transportation in aid of racketeering enterVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Feb 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4996.IH H4996

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1 prises), section 1956 of such title (relating to 

2 the laundering of monetary instruments), sec3 tion 1957 of such title (relating to engaging in 

4 monetary transactions in property derived from 

5 specified unlawful activity), or sections 2312 

6 through 2315 of such title (relating to inter7 state transportation of stolen motor vehicles or 

8 stolen property). 

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

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

11 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AGAINST FILING. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—No person who— 

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

14 affiliate of, or who has ever provided material sup15 port to, a criminal gang as defined in section 101 

16 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; 

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

18 affiliate of, or who has ever provided material sup19 port to, a criminal street gang as defined in section 

20 520 of title 18 of the United States Code; or 

21 (3) has been convicted of or has admitted the 

22 essential elements of an offense as specified in sub23 section (b), 

24 shall be permitted to file an application or petition, or sub25 mit an affidavit of support, on behalf of an alien under 


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1 any provision of the immigration laws, nor shall such per2 son be permitted to assume custodial care for an unaccom3 panied alien minor. 

4 (b) DISQUALIFYING OFFENSES.—Offenses which dis5 qualify a person under subsection (a) are— 

6 (1) a felony drug offense (as defined in section 

7 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

8 802)); 

9 (2) conduct punishable under section 274, 277, 

10 or 278 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; 

11 (3) a crime of violence (as defined in section 16 

12 of title 18, United States Code); 

13 (4) a crime involving obstruction of justice, 

14 tampering with or retaliating against a witness, vic15 tim, or informant, or burglary; 

16 (5) conduct punishable under section 1028 or 

17 1029, and sections 1541 through 1546 of title 18 of 

18 the United States Code; 

19 (6) conduct punishable under sections 1581 

20 through 1594 of title 18 of the United States Code; 

21 (7) sections 1951, 1952, 1956, and 1957 of 

22 title 18 of the United States Code; 

23 (8) sections 2312 through 2315 of title 18 of 

24 the United States Code; or 


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1 (9) any attempt to engage in an offense de2 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (8) above, or con3 duct punishable under sections 2 through 4, and sec4 tions 371 through 373 of title 18 of the United 

5 States Code in furtherance of such an offense. 

6 (c) ADMISSION OF ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF AN OF7 FENSE.—A person shall be deemed to have admitted the 

8 essential elements of an offense within the meaning of sub9 section (a)(3) upon an oral or written statement to such 

10 effect, or upon a conviction or formal finding by a com11 petent Federal, State or local court, tribunal or military 

12 proceeding that said person has engaged in unlawful con13 duct whose essential elements include those that would be 

14 required for conviction of a disqualifying offense as de15 scribed in subsection (b). 

16 SEC. 5. DENATURALIZATION OF CRIMINAL GANG MEMBERS 

17 AND SUPPORTERS. 

18 Section 340 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

19 (8 U.S.C. 1451) is amended by striking subsection (c) and 

20 inserting the following language: 

21 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP IN CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS; 

22 PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE.— 

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

24 been naturalized after December 24, 1952, shall 

25 within 10 years following such naturalization become 


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1 a member of or affiliated with any organization, 

2 membership in or affiliation with which at the time 

3 of naturalization would have precluded such person 

4 from naturalization under the provisions of section 

5 313, it shall be considered prima facie evidence that 

6 such person was not attached to the principles of the 

7 Constitution of the United States and was not well 

8 disposed to the good order and happiness of the 

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

10 the absence of countervailing evidence, it shall be 

11 sufficient in the proper proceeding to authorize the 

12 revocation and setting aside of the order admitting 

13 such person to citizenship and the cancellation of the 

14 certificate of naturalization as having been obtained 

15 by concealment of a material fact or by willful mis16 representation, and such revocation and setting 

17 aside of the order admitting such person to citizen18 ship and such canceling of certificate of naturaliza19 tion shall be effective as of the original date of the 

20 order and certificate, respectively. 

21 ‘‘(2) ORGANIZATION, MEMBERSHIP IN OR AF22 FILIATION WITH WHICH AT THE TIME OF NATU23 RALIZATION WOULD HAVE PRECLUDED SUCH PER24 SON FROM NATURALIZATION.—The phrase ‘any or25 ganization, membership in or affiliation with which 


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1 at the time of naturalization would have precluded 

2 such person from naturalization’ shall be deemed to 

3 include an alien who— 

4 ‘‘(A) is or has ever been a member, asso5 ciate or affiliate of, or who has ever provided 

6 material support to, a criminal gang; 

7 ‘‘(B) is or has ever been a member, asso8 ciate or affiliate of, or who has ever provided 

9 material support to, a criminal street gang as 

10 defined in section 520 of title 18 of the United 

11 States Code; or 

12 ‘‘(C) has been convicted of or has admitted 

13 committing the essential elements of the fol14 lowing offenses— 

15 ‘‘(i) a felony drug offense (as defined 

16 in section 102 of the Controlled Sub17 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)); 

18 ‘‘(ii) has engaged in conduct punish19 able under section 274, 277, or 278; 

20 ‘‘(iii) committed a crime of violence 

21 (as defined in section 16 of title 18, United 

22 States Code); 

23 ‘‘(iv) committed a crime involving ob24 struction of justice, tampering with or reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Feb 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4996.IH H4996

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1 taliating against a witness, victim, or in2 formant, or burglary; 

3 ‘‘(v) engaged in conduct punishable 

4 under section 1028 or 1029, and sections 

5 1541 through 1546 of title 18 of the 

6 United States Code; 

7 ‘‘(vi) engaged in conduct punishable 

8 under sections 1581 through 1594 of title 

9 18 of the United States Code; or engaged 

10 in conduct punishable under sections 1951, 

11 1952, 1956, and 1957 of title 18 of the 

12 United States Code; 

13 ‘‘(vii) engaged in conduct punishable 

14 under sections 2312 through 2315 of title 

15 18 of the United States Code; or 

16 ‘‘(viii) attempted to engage in an of17 fense described in clauses (i) through (viii) 

18 above, or engaged in conduct punishable 

19 under sections 2 through 4, and sections 

20 371 through 373 of title 18 of the United 

21 States Code in furtherance of such an of22 fense. 

23 ‘‘(3) DEEMED TO HAVE ADMITTED.—An alien 

24 shall be deemed to have admitted the essential ele25 ments of an offense within the meaning of paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Feb 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4996.IH H4996

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1 graph (2)(C) upon an oral or written statement to 

2 such effect, or upon a conviction or formal finding 

3 by a competent Federal, State or local court, tri4 bunal or military proceeding that said person has 

5 engaged in unlawful conduct whose essential ele6 ments include those that would be required for con7 viction of a disqualifying offense.’’. 

8 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION. 

9 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

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

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

12 shall apply to any application for naturalization or any 

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

14 the immigration laws pending on or filed after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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