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HF576 • 2026

A bill for an act providing penalties for certain nonimmigrant visa holders attending or employed by certain institutions of higher education who express support for certain terrorist activities or organizations and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HF 115 .)

A bill for an act providing penalties for certain nonimmigrant visa holders attending or employed by certain institutions of higher education who express support for certain terrorist activities or organizations and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HF 115 .)

Education
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Last action
2025-04-03
Official status
Referred to Higher Education. H.J. 895 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act providing penalties for certain nonimmigrant visa holders attending or employed by certain institutions of higher education who express support for certain terrorist activities or organizations and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HF 115 .)

A bill for an act providing penalties for certain nonimmigrant visa holders attending or employed by certain institutions of higher education who express support for certain terrorist activities or organizations and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HF 115 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act providing penalties for certain nonimmigrant visa holders attending or employed by certain institutions of higher education who express support for certain terrorist activities or organizations and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HF 115 .)

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-04-03 Iowa Legislature

    Referred to Higher Education. H.J. 895 .

  2. 2025-02-24 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, placed on calendar. H.J. 416 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act providing penalties for certain nonimmigrant visa holders attending or employed by certain institutions of higher education who express support for certain terrorist activities or organizations and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HF 115 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
House

File

576

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

576

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

HIGHER

EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR

TO

HF

115)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

providing

penalties

for

certain

nonimmigrant

visa

1

holders

attending

or

employed

by

certain

institutions

of

2

higher

education

who

express

support

for

certain

terrorist

3

activities

or

organizations

and

including

effective

date

4

provisions.

5

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

6

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576

Section

1.

SHORT

TITLE.

This

Act

shall

be

known

and

may

be

1

cited

as

the

“Combatting

Terrorist

Sympathizers

Act”.

2

Sec.

2.

Section

256.183,

subsection

1,

unnumbered

paragraph

3

1,

Code

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

4

“Accredited

private

institution”

means

an

institution

of

5

higher

learning

located

in

Iowa

which

is

operated

privately

6

and

not

controlled

or

administered

by

any

state

agency

or

7

any

subdivision

of

the

state

and

which

meets

the

criteria

in

8

paragraphs

“a”

and

“b”

and

all

of

the

criteria

in

paragraphs

“d”

9

through

“j”

“k”

,

except

that

institutions

defined

in

paragraph

10

“c”

of

this

subsection

are

exempt

from

the

requirements

of

11

paragraphs

“a”

and

“b”

:

12

Sec.

3.

Section

256.183,

subsection

1,

Code

2025,

is

amended

13

by

adding

the

following

new

paragraph:

14

NEW

PARAGRAPH

.

k.

Adopts

a

policy

for

compliance

with

15

chapter

261K.

16

Sec.

4.

NEW

SECTION

.

261K.1

Definitions.

17

As

used

in

this

chapter,

unless

the

context

otherwise

18

requires:

19

1.

“Institution

of

higher

education”

means

an

institution

of

20

higher

learning

governed

by

the

state

board

of

regents

or

an

21

accredited

private

institution

as

defined

in

section

256.183.

22

2.

“Nonimmigrant

visa”

includes

but

is

not

limited

to

visa

23

categories

F-1,

M-1,

and

J-1.

24

3.

“Terrorist

activity”

and

“terrorist

organization”

mean

the

25

same

as

defined

in

8

U.S.C.

§1182.

26

Sec.

5.

NEW

SECTION

.

261K.2

Policy

on

nonimmigrant

visa

27

holders

——

support

of

terrorist

activities

or

organizations

——

28

suspension,

expulsion,

or

termination

of

employment.

29

Each

institution

of

higher

education

shall

adopt

and

enforce

30

a

policy

that

does

all

of

the

following:

31

1.

Prohibits

a

student,

faculty

member,

and

staff

member,

32

if

the

individual

holds

a

nonimmigrant

visa,

from

publicly

33

espousing

terrorist

activity

related

to

an

ongoing

conflict

or,

34

at

any

time

or

place,

persuading

others

to

endorse

or

espouse

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terrorist

activity

related

to

an

ongoing

conflict

or

to

support

1

a

terrorist

organization

unless

it

is

the

policy

or

practice

of

2

the

United

States

to

support

such

activity

or

organization.

3

2.

Upon

suspecting

or

receiving

a

credible

allegation

4

that

an

individual

has

violated

the

policy,

provides

for

5

an

investigation

of

the

individual

by

the

institution

and,

6

if

warranted

by

the

factual

results

of

the

investigation,

7

enforcement

of

the

policy

against

the

individual.

8

3.

Upon

a

first

finding

of

guilt

of

or

responsibility

for

a

9

violation

of

subsection

1

by

a

preponderance

of

the

evidence,

10

provides

for

the

suspension

of

a

student

or

termination

of

a

11

faculty

or

staff

member’s

employment

for

at

least

one

year.

12

4.

Upon

a

second

finding

of

guilt

of

or

responsibility

for

13

a

violation

of

subsection

1

by

a

preponderance

of

the

evidence,

14

provides

for

the

expulsion

of

a

student

or

termination

of

a

15

faculty

or

staff

member’s

employment

permanently.

16

5.

Immediately

upon

suspending

or

expelling

a

student

17

or

terminating

a

faculty

or

staff

member’s

employment

under

18

subsection

3

or

4,

requires

the

institution

to

update

the

19

individual’s

record

in

the

federal

department

of

homeland

20

security’s

student

exchange

visitor

information

system

or

a

21

successor

system

to

show

that

the

individual

is

no

longer

22

enrolled

as

a

full-time

student

of

the

institution

or

employed

23

by

the

institution.

24

6.

Prohibits

a

student,

faculty

member,

or

staff

member

25

from

transferring

to,

enrolling

at,

or

becoming

employed

by

the

26

institution

if

the

individual

has

been

suspended,

expelled,

or

27

terminated

from

employment

by

another

institution

of

higher

28

education

under

subsection

4.

29

Sec.

6.

NEW

SECTION

.

261K.3

Enforcement

against

30

institutions

——

attorney

general

——

ineligibility

for

tuition

31

grants.

32

1.

The

attorney

general

shall

enforce

this

chapter

and

33

may

investigate

suspected

violations

of

this

chapter

by

an

34

institution

of

higher

education.

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2.

The

attorney

general

may

compel

production

of

documents

1

and

other

evidence

from

an

institution

suspected

of

violating

2

this

chapter,

including

all

education

and

employment

records

3

and

other

relevant

records.

4

3.

a.

The

attorney

general

may

bring

an

action

against

5

an

institution

of

higher

education

for

a

writ

of

mandamus

to

6

compel

the

institution

to

comply

with

this

chapter.

7

b.

Upon

a

determination

by

the

court

that

an

institution

8

of

higher

education

that

is

not

a

regents

institution

has

9

violated

this

chapter,

the

institution

shall

be

ineligible

to

10

receive

funds

from

the

state

for

tuition

grants

under

chapter

11

256,

subchapter

VII,

part

4,

subpart

B,

for

the

academic

year

12

beginning

after

the

date

of

the

finding.

The

attorney

general

13

shall

petition

the

court

to

make

such

a

determination.

The

14

court

shall

submit

a

copy

of

the

determination

to

the

college

15

student

aid

commission.

16

Sec.

7.

EFFECTIVE

DATE.

This

Act

takes

effect

December

31,

17

2025.

18

EXPLANATION

19

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

20

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

21

This

bill

requires

an

institution

of

higher

education

to

22

adopt

and

enforce

a

policy

relating

to

certain

expressions

of

23

support

for

terrorist

activities

or

organizations,

as

defined

24

under

federal

law,

by

nonimmigrant

visa

holders

attending

or

25

working

at

the

institution.

The

bill

defines

“institution

26

of

higher

education”

as

an

institution

of

higher

learning

27

governed

by

the

state

board

of

regents

or

an

accredited

private

28

institution

for

purposes

of

tuition

grants

under

Code

chapter

29

256,

subchapter

VII,

part

4,

subpart

B.

30

The

policy

shall

prohibit

a

student,

faculty

member,

and

31

staff

member,

if

the

individual

holds

a

nonimmigrant

visa,

from

32

publicly

espousing

terrorist

activity

related

to

an

ongoing

33

conflict

or,

at

any

time

or

place,

persuading

others

to

endorse

34

or

espouse

terrorist

activity

related

to

an

ongoing

conflict

35

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or

to

support

a

terrorist

organization

unless

it

is

the

policy

1

or

practice

of

the

United

States

to

support

such

activity

or

2

organization.

3

Upon

suspecting

or

receiving

a

credible

allegation

of

a

4

violation

by

an

individual,

the

policy

shall

provide

for

5

an

investigation

of

the

individual

by

the

institution

and,

6

if

warranted

by

the

factual

results

of

the

investigation,

7

enforcement

of

the

policy

against

the

individual.

8

Upon

a

first

finding

of

guilt

of

or

responsibility

for

a

9

violation

by

a

preponderance

of

the

evidence,

the

policy

shall

10

provide

for

the

suspension

of

a

student

or

termination

of

a

11

faculty

or

staff

member’s

employment

for

at

least

one

year.

12

Upon

a

second

such

finding,

the

policy

shall

provide

for

the

13

expulsion

of

a

student

or

termination

of

a

faculty

or

staff

14

member’s

employment

permanently.

15

Immediately

upon

suspending

or

expelling

a

student

or

16

terminating

a

faculty

or

staff

member’s

employment

in

this

17

manner,

the

policy

shall

require

the

institution

to

update

18

the

individual’s

record

in

the

federal

department

of

homeland

19

security’s

student

exchange

visitor

information

system

or

a

20

successor

system

to

show

that

the

individual

is

no

longer

21

enrolled

as

a

full-time

student

of

the

institution

or

employed

22

by

the

institution.

23

The

policy

must

prohibit

a

student,

faculty

member,

or

staff

24

member

from

transferring

to,

enrolling

at,

or

becoming

employed

25

by

the

institution

if

the

individual

has

been

suspended,

26

expelled,

or

terminated

from

employment

by

another

institution

27

of

higher

education

as

provided

under

the

bill.

28

The

bill

shall

be

enforced

by

the

attorney

general,

who

may

29

investigate

suspected

violations

by

an

institution

of

higher

30

education.

The

attorney

general

may

compel

production

of

31

documents

and

other

evidence

from

an

institution

suspected

of

a

32

violation.

The

attorney

general

may

bring

an

action

against

an

33

institution

for

a

writ

of

mandamus

to

compel

the

institution

34

to

comply.

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Upon

a

determination

by

the

court

that

an

institution

that

1

is

not

a

regents

institution

has

committed

a

violation,

the

2

institution

shall

be

ineligible

to

receive

funds

from

the

state

3

for

tuition

grants

under

Code

chapter

256,

subchapter

VII,

part

4

4,

subpart

B,

for

the

academic

year

beginning

after

the

date

5

of

the

finding.

6

The

bill

takes

effect

December

31,

2025.

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