US House Passes Bill Deporting Noncitizens Who Harm Police Animals

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Thursday that would render noncitizens inadmissible to the country and subject to deportation if they are convicted of or admit to harming animals used in law enforcement, such as police dogs and horses. The measure, known as the Bill to Outlaw Wounding of Official Working Animals Act or BOWOW Act, cleared the chamber by a vote of 228 to 190 and now heads to the Senate.

Sponsored by Rep. Ken Calvert, a Republican from California, the bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to target offenses under federal statute 18 U.S.C. 1368, which covers the malicious wounding or killing of law enforcement animals. It applies to animals serving at federal, state, or local levels and would bar those who commit such acts from reentering the United States. Calvert introduced the legislation in June 2025 following an incident at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, where a 70-year-old Egyptian national, Hamed Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie, kicked a 5-year-old Customs and Border Protection beagle named Freddie during an agricultural inspection.

According to court records, Freddie detected prohibited produce in Marie's luggage,...