PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 13, 2025
No Asylum for Criminals Act of 2025
This bill bars an individual who has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor from receiving asylum, with limited exceptions. Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security may designate political offenses committed outside of the United States that shall not be considered a crime for this purpose.
Currently, an individual shall be barred from receiving asylum for only certain types of criminal convictions, such as if the individual is convicted for (1) an aggravated felony, or (2) a particularly serious crime and as a result deemed a danger to the United States.
People & committees
Rep. Harris, Mark [R-NC-8] · R–NC
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Mar 4, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-13 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This proposal would make people seeking asylum ineligible if they have a final conviction for a felony or misdemeanor. Its definitions would cover crimes carrying more than one year of possible imprisonment as well as crimes carrying shorter or no prison terms. Homeland Security could exclude certain political offenses committed outside the United States through regulations. That exception would be discretionary, not automatic.
(ii) except as provided in subparagraph (B), the alien has been finally convicted of a felony or misdemeanor;
any crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment.
any crime not punishable by more than one year of imprisonment.
The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate by regulation political offenses committed outside the United States that will be not considered to be a crime described in clause (ii).
Section 1 would name the bill the “No Asylum for Criminals Act of 2025.”
This Act may be cited as the No Asylum for Criminals Act of 2025.
Section 2 would replace an asylum eligibility provision with a bar based on a final felony or misdemeanor conviction, subject to the proposed exception. The replacement language requires a conviction, rather than merely an accusation.
2. Aliens convicted of crimes ineligible for asylum
by amending clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) to read as follows: (ii) except as provided in subparagraph (B), the alien has been finally convicted of a felony or misdemeanor;
The Secretary of Homeland Security could issue regulations excluding political offenses committed outside the United States from this conviction bar. The bill would limit that authority to those offenses; it would not require the Secretary to create an exception.
(B) Exception The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate by regulation political offenses committed outside the United States that will be not considered to be a crime described in clause (ii). The authority under this subparagraph is limited to political offenses committed outside the United States.
A felony would include either a crime classified as a felony by the federal, state, tribal, or local jurisdiction of conviction, or any crime punishable by more than one year in prison. The prison threshold concerns the possible punishment, not the sentence actually imposed.
(i) The term felony means— (I) any crime defined as a felony by the relevant jurisdiction (Federal, State, tribal, or local) of conviction; or (II) any crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment.
A misdemeanor would include either a crime classified as a misdemeanor by the federal, state, tribal, or local jurisdiction of conviction, or any crime whose possible prison punishment does not exceed one year. The latter definition states no minimum prison punishment.
(ii) The term misdemeanor means— (I) any crime defined as a misdemeanor by the relevant jurisdiction (Federal, State, tribal, or local) of conviction; or (II) any crime not punishable by more than one year of imprisonment.
The official-actions snapshot updated March 4, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on the Judiciary on February 13, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-03-04T01:46:44Z. 2025-02-13: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. 2025-02-13: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-13. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy rider was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The text contains a narrowly defined potential exception to its main eligibility restriction. This classification does not judge the exception's justification.
People with convictions for political offenses committed outside the United States could receive an exception from the proposed conviction bar if the Secretary of Homeland Security designated those offenses by regulation. This is a discretionary carve-out within the bill's asylum policy, not an automatic grant of asylum.
(ii) except as provided in subparagraph (B), the alien has been finally convicted of a felony or misdemeanor;
(B) Exception The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate by regulation political offenses committed outside the United States that will be not considered to be a crime described in clause (ii). The authority under this subparagraph is limited to political offenses committed outside the United States.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Mar 4, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI