DUI to Deportation: What H.R. 875 Could Mean for Immigrant Communities
On June 26, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 875, the “Protect Our Communities From DUIs Act.” While framed as a key tool for public safety, the bill could be one of the most far-reaching expansions of deportation grounds for our immigrant communities in recent history. If enacted, the bill would make driving while intoxicated or impaired a deportable and inadmissible offense, granting DHS/ICE expanded authority in an ongoing push to deport as many people as possible. Like the Laken Riley Act, H.R. 875 shows how public safety rhetoric is used to deepen the ties between the criminal legal system and immigration enforcement.
Although Representative Barry Moore (AL-01) authored the bill as a “common sense” approach to protect against drunk drivers, DUIs already carry severe immigration consequences. Under current law, a single misdemeanor DUI could not only trigger the revocation of a student or employee visa but also bar eligibility for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and asylum. If a controlled substance is involved, the immigration consequences escalate to prolonged ICE detention that can last months or years. H.R. 875 would go even further: elevating a DUI arrest to the same level as the most serious offenses, such as drug trafficking or murder. The bill would dramatically expand who faces these penalties to include legal residents who have lived in the U.S. for decades, and even survivors of crimes. H.R. 875 would also coincide with the more than $170 billion investment in immigration enforcement, making these agencies the most highly funded law enforcement agencies in the country. If enacted, the bill would dramatically contribute to family separation, travel restrictions, and detention in horrendous conditions.
Immigration Enforcement and DUIs
Over recent decades, the convergence of criminal and immigration law, referred to as “crimmigration,” has entangled immigration enforcement within everyday policing. Since 2002, ICE has entered 287(g) agreements with local agencies, authorizing officers to screen detainees in jails and enforce immigration laws in their jurisdictions. Notoriously, under Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County deputies routinely used race as an unconstitutional pretext to stop, detain, and arrest Latinx drivers, who were up to 9x more likely to be pulled over. By 2012, the Obama Administration phased out this “deputization” model, citing civil rights concerns. Under the Trump Administration, 287(g) agreements have surged from 135 in 16 states to over 700 across 40 states in five months. By linking deportation to DUIs, H.R. 875 would widen the net of immigration enforcement, extending it through traffic stops and sobriety checkpoints conducted by local officers.
Police discretion allows officers to initiate stops based on subjective judgment, such as perceived behavior, driver appearance, or vehicle condition. These decisions result in Latinx and Black drivers being stopped at higher rates, even when their driving mirrors that of white drivers. In an analysis of nearly 100 million cases nationwide, the Stanford Open Policing Project found racialized patterns in stops, searches, and seizures. By giving officers another basis for stops, H.R. 875 would heighten the risk of detainment and deportation of noncitizen drivers.
Checkpoints provide another avenue for discriminatory enforcement, as officers have broad discretion to stop or wave drivers through. At a Tennessee Highway Patrol sobriety checkpoint, officers pulled over driver Chelsea White and her husband, Hilario Martínez García; while White was released, Martínez García was detained and swiftly deported to Mexico. This case illustrates how checkpoints can sweep up drivers and passengers alike, putting immigrant community members at risk. Additionally, checkpoint locations are not random. In Chicago, 84 percent of checkpoints occurred in predominantly Black or Latinx neighborhoods, while predominantly white areas with more DUI incidents were overlooked. These placements deviate from guidelines that recommend placing checkpoints based on objective factors, such as the rate of alcohol-related crashes. H.R. 875 would expand officers’ authority in ways that disproportionately affect immigrant drivers and passengers.
Consequences of Detention and Deportation
If enacted, H.R. 875 would deepen the climate of fear and insecurity already experienced by immigrant communities. Immigrant families facing detention or deportation lose income overnight, pushing them into financial crises, food insecurity, and the threat of eviction.
This fear of deportation ripples outward, undermining trust in vital institutions like hospitals. Immigrant families often avoid or delay medical care, hesitate to send their children to school, and isolate themselves out of fear of surveillance or separation. In Los Angeles, recent ICE raids have made families too afraid to access basic health services or attend school in person. After recent wildfires, parents even delayed lead testing for their children due to these fears. Instead of promoting public safety, H.R. 875 will endanger public health by fueling distrust and uncertainty already weighing on immigrant communities.
Fear is intensified by the opacity of the detention system itself. Detained loved ones who abruptly disappear can be impossible to locate, leaving relatives in torment before learning where they are being held. Once located, detainees are subjected to inhumane conditions that immigration and legal advocates have long documented: sexual abuse, malnourishment, mental suffering, and medical neglect. Alarmingly, recent deaths in ICE custody have made 2025 one of the deadliest years in immigration detention.
Current enforcement already has harmful impacts on immigrant families. By broadening the grounds for deportation and tying immigration enforcement even more tightly to local policing through discriminatory traffic stops and DUI checkpoints, the bill will enable wider enforcement. The result would be more family separation, deeper distrust in public institutions, worsening public health outcomes, and policies that criminalize rather than support the inclusion of immigrant communities.
Understanding the potential impacts of H.R. 875 is vital for immigrant families, community leaders, and policymakers. Building community education and response includes supporting legal defense programs, getting involved with immigrant rights organizations, and staying informed on ongoing legislation.
About the authors:
Fernando Moreno Jr., Nicolas Gutierrez III, and Ximena Sanchez Martinez are Ph.D. students in the Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California.