S 1952119th CongressIn Committee

Protecting Law Enforcement from Doxxing Act

Introduced: Jun 4, 2025

Civil Rights & JusticeImmigration

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Protecting Law Enforcement from Doxxing Act would create a new criminal offense under 18 U.S.C. §1510 to prohibit publicly releasing the name of a federal law enforcement officer if doing so is intended to obstruct a criminal investigation or an immigration enforcement operation. The bill defines who counts as a federal law enforcement officer and imposes penalties of fines and/or up to five years in prison for violations. In addition to creating this new offense, the measure makes conforming changes to several related statutes to recognize immigration enforcement operations in places where obstruction is currently referenced, and to ensure those operations are considered in related legal provisions (such as bail decisions). The bill was introduced by Senator Blackburn in the 119th Congress and referred to the Judiciary Committee.

Key Points

1Establishes a new offense under 18 U.S.C. §1510(f): It is illegal to publicly release the name of a federal law enforcement officer with the intent to obstruct a criminal investigation or immigration enforcement operation.
2Definition of federal law enforcement officer: Includes any U.S. officer, agent, or employee authorized to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of federal criminal or immigration law violations.
3Penalties: A violation carries a fine, up to 5 years in prison, or both.
4Technical/conforming amendments: Updates the table of sections and related provisions to reflect that obstruction includes both criminal investigations and immigration enforcement operations; adjusts cross-references in other statutes (such as definitions and bail provisions) to include immigration enforcement operations.
5Legislative status: Introduced by Senator Blackburn (Senate) on June 4, 2025; referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Federal law enforcement officers and their safety from doxxing or targeted public disclosures intended to impede investigations or immigration enforcement operations.Secondary group/area affected: Individuals or entities that publicly disclose officers’ names (e.g., journalists, social media users, platforms) and those who may assist or participate in doxxing activities; law enforcement investigators and agencies conducting criminal or immigration operations.Additional impacts: Potential influence on pretrial or operational considerations through the expanded reference to immigration enforcement operations in related statutes; possible civil-liberties and free-speech considerations for public reporting and advocacy; administrative and prosecutorial resources required to enforce the new offense.

Generated by gpt-5-nano on Oct 7, 2025