PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Apr 26, 2018
Defending Elections against Trolls from Enemy Regimes Act or DETER Act
This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make an alien who is seeking to engage in, or has engaged in, improper interference in a U.S. election inadmissible.
Improper interference in a U.S. election is conduct by an alien that: (1) violates federal criminal, voting rights, or campaign finance law, or is under the direction of a foreign government; and (2) interferes with any general or primary federal, state, or local election or caucus, including a candidate's campaign or a ballot measure.
People & committees
Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] · D–IL
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-378.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2487)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.2785 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.2785 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.2785 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.2785 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.