GOP Rep. Introduces Bill Seeking Death Penalty Eligibility For Migrants Who Commit Murder In The U.S.

A Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill seeking to make undocumented immigrants eligible for the death penalty in all 50 states if they commit murder in the country.

Rep. Morgan Luttrell of Texas introduced the Justice for Victims of Illegal Alien Murder Act, which would establish a new class of federal criminal offenses as a result. Concretely, it would make those convicted of first-degree murder eligible for the death penalty or life in prison.

"We can hold those individuals accountable at the federal level because they're here illegally. And here we are with that legislation," Luttrell told Fox News on Wednesday before introducing the bill.

The lawmaker told the outlet that the initiative was partially motivated by a case in which a migrant was arrested for killing five people in the U.S. in 2023. "That guy shouldn't have been here as well. He had been deported a couple times, snuck back across the border, and now this happened. It's time for us to step in and do this," the lawmaker said.

President Donald Trump signed in January an executive order mandaring the capital punishment for unlawful migrants who commit "all crimes of a severity demanding its use."

The introduction of the bill comes shortly after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she will seek the death penalty for two Mexican nationals operating a boat that capsized off the coast of California, killing at least three people during an alleged human smuggling operation.

Noem said in a statement that DHS will request the Department of Justice to request the death penalty "based on a thorough review of both the Immigration and Naturalization Act and the Federal Death Penalty Act."

"Their deaths were not only avoidable but were also the direct result of the greed and indifference of smugglers who exploited them. Maritime smuggling is not just illegal—it is a violent and inherently dangerous crime. Those who knowingly place human lives at grave risk in furtherance of such crimes must be held fully accountable," Noem added in her statement.