H.R. 3504 · 117th Congress

Protect Americans from Foreign Criminals Act of 2021

Introduced on May 25, 2021 by Yvette Herrell (R-NM-2). 8 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Nov 1, 2022): Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
May 25, 2021
Cosponsors
8
0 from the other party
Policy area
Immigration
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct criminal history background checks on aliens who unlawfully entered the United States prior to releasing such aliens from custody, and for other purposes.

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, May 25, 2021). Public domain.

Protect Americans from Foreign Criminals Act of 2021

This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct background checks before releasing from custody an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States.

Specifically, before releasing such an individual from detention while removal proceedings are pending, DHS must conduct a background check using criminal history databases covering the United States, the individual's country of origin, and any country that the individual transited through. DHS may not release the individual if the individual is (1) facing charges for (or convicted of) an aggravated felony, (2) a member of a criminal street gang, or (3) subject to mandatory detention on various crime- or security-related grounds.

Furthermore, DHS must review and determine whether the criminal history databases of countries around the world meet standards for accessibility, accuracy, and other factors.

DHS may not release a detained individual if a background check for that individual is required from a country with databases that fail to meet the relevant standards.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Yvette HerrellR-NM-2Sponsor

Republicans · 8

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. May 25, 2021Introduced in House
  2. May 25, 2021Introduced in House
  3. May 25, 2021 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  4. Nov 1, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
  5. Nov 1, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.