Kerrie Orozco First Responders Family Support Act
The Kerrie Orozco First Responders Family Support Act would add a new pathway under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to naturalize certain relatives of public safety officers who die in the line of duty. Specifically, it would allow surviving spouses, children, or parents of a U.S. citizen (where the citizen relative died due to injuries or disease incurred in the officer’s job) to become naturalized without the usual requirement to have prior residence or physical presence in the United States. Other standard naturalization requirements would still apply. The bill defines “public safety officer” according to existing federal law and uses the relationship to the citizen who died in service as the basis for eligibility. The bill is named after Kerrie Orozco and was introduced in the House on June 9, 2025, by Reps. Bacon and Min and referred to the Judiciary Committee. The text provided covers only the new subsection added to INA § 319 and does not include broader provisions or other changes.
Key Points
- 1Creates a new provision (INA § 319(f)) allowing immediate relatives of a public safety officer to naturalize.
- 2Eligible relatives: surviving spouse, child, or parent of a U.S. citizen who dies as a result of injury or disease incurred in or aggravated by employment as a public safety officer; for surviving spouses, the couple must have been living in marital union at the time of death.
- 3Waives the usual U.S. residency or specific physical presence requirement in order to pursue naturalization; all other naturalization requirements under the title still apply.
- 4The definition of “public safety officer” follows the meaning in 34 U.S.C. 10284 (as used in the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968).
- 5The bill is currently introduced and referred to the Judiciary Committee; no enacted provisions beyond INA § 319(f) are provided in the text available.