EXCLUSIVE: John Cornyn Unveils Legislation To Slap Penalties On Anti-ICE Agitators Following Renee Good Protests

Senate Republicans unveiled a bill Thursday aimed at combating a wave of attacks on federal immigration agents.

Lawmakers, led by Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, are proposing increasing penalties for people who assault or resist law enforcement. The legislation would also provide minimum penalties for those who use vehicles to attack law enforcement, according to a copy of the bill obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. (RELATED: Lawyers Have News for Ice Cream Haters Who Think ‘Legal Observers’ Are Special)

Cornyn’s bill, the ICE Protection Act, comes after the Department of Homeland Security announced Jan. 8 that vehicular attacks on ICE agents increased 3,200 percent between Jan. 21, 2025, and Jan. 7, 2026. The agency also reported a 1,374 percent increase in assaults on ICE agents between roughly the same time period.

DHS released the data following an incident last week in Minneapolis in which an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Renee Good, 37, after she abruptly accelerated her vehicle during the confrontation.

The ICE officer who shot Good after she allegedly tried to run over him suffered internal bleeding during the incident, DHS said Wednesday. Good blocked the street with his car to prevent a crackdown before the fatal encounter.

“The radical left has launched a senseless crusade against our brave men and women in law enforcement, and Democrats’ incendiary rhetoric has fueled an alarming rise in violence that not only puts our communities at risk, but also harms the very people sworn to keep them safe,” Cornyn said in a statement.

Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who is running in a competitive Democratic primary to unseat Cornyn, notably compared ICE officers to “slave patrols” during a radio show in September.

U.S. Border Patrol agents stand guard outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 8, 2026. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Cornyn’s legislation would specifically increase the statutory maximum sentence for assaulting or resisting law enforcement to 40 years, up from the previous limit of 20 years. The bill would also add a minimum sentence of three to 10 years in prison for vehicular attacks on law enforcement, depending on the severity of the injury.

Cornyn added that the legislation “sends a clear message” that attacks on law enforcement officials will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

“Those who harm our ICE agents will face the full force and wrath of the American justice system with this increased punishment,” Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who joined Cornyn in introducing the bill, said in a statement.

Republican Senators James Lankford of Oklahoma, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Steve Daines of Montana are also sponsoring the bill. The bill is endorsed by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.

Cornyn, who began serving in the Senate in 2002, is fighting in a three-way primary for re-election in the November midterm elections. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt are challenging him for the GOP nomination. No candidate is expected to win more than 50% of the vote in the March 3 primary, which would force the top two finishers to face each other in a runoff.

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