Congressional Immigration Legislation

The House passed the Bill to Outlaw Wounding of Official Working Animals (BOWOW) Act 228–190, largely along party lines, making noncitizens who are convicted of or who admit to harming law‑enforcement animals deportable and inadmissible, with only 15 Democrats joining unanimous Republican support. Sponsors pointed to a June 2025 Dulles Airport case as justification, while Democrats said the measure is redundant, raised due‑process concerns about using admissions to trigger deportation, and — like earlier GOP immigration bills — is expected to be dead on arrival in the Democratic‑controlled Senate.

The U.S. House voted 228–190, largely along party lines, to pass the Bill to Outlaw Wounding of Official Working Animals (BOWOW) Act, which would make any noncitizen who is convicted of or admits to harming a law‑enforcement animal deportable and permanently inadmissible to the United States. Sponsored by Rep. Ken Calvert, R‑Calif., the bill was backed by all voting Republicans and only 15 Democrats, and was framed around a 2025 incident at Dulles Airport in which an Egyptian traveler kicked a Customs and Border Protection beagle that detected smuggled produce. Democrats argued the measure is unnecessary because current immigration law already allows removal for such crimes and warned it weakens due‑process protections by permitting deportation before a formal conviction. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D‑Md., used floor debate to criticize Republicans for focusing on what he portrayed as symbolic immigration bills during President Trump’s undeclared war with Iran, underscoring how culture‑war messaging and enforcement optics are driving House scheduling. The BOWOW Act now heads to a Democratic‑controlled Senate, where it is widely expected to stall, but it gives Republicans another recorded vote to campaign on alongside their separate House‑passed bill targeting noncitizens who defraud the government.