H.R. 35 — Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act

This section establishes a new criminal offense (18 U.S.C. §40B) for operating a motor vehicle within 100 miles of the U.S. border while intentionally fleeing a pursuing U.S. Border Patrol agent acting pursuant to lawful authority or any pursuing federal, state, or local law enforcement officer actively assisting or under Border Patrol command. Penalties are (1) imprisonment for not more than 2 years, a fine, or both; (2) if serious bodily injury results, imprisonment for 5 to 20 years, a fine, or both; or (3) if death results, imprisonment for not less than 10 years or up to life, a fine, or both.

This section adds three new immigration consequences under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for aliens convicted of, who admit having committed, or who admit committing acts constituting the essential elements of 18 U.S.C. §40B(a) (evading arrest or detention while operating a motor vehicle): (1) inadmissibility under new INA §212(a)(2)(J); (2) deportability under new INA §237(a)(2)(G); and (3) ineligibility for relief under the immigration laws, including asylum, under new INA §208A. (Thus, such aliens are barred from receiving visas or admission to the United States, subject to removal if present, and cannot obtain asylum or other forms of immigration relief.)

This section requires the Attorney General, in conjunction with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to submit an annual report to the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary that (1) identifies the number of violations of 18 U.S.C. §40B(a), as added by section 2(a); and (2) summarizes (A) the number of individuals charged with such violation, (B) the number apprehended but not charged, (C) the number who committed such violation but were not apprehended, (D) the penalties sought in charging documents pertaining to such violation, and (E) the penalties imposed for such violation.