Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Young Kim (CA-40) joined Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) to introduce the bipartisan Porch Pirates Act.
As online shopping increases, studies have shown that one in five Americans have been the victims of porch piracy on their own front doors, resulting in millions of dollars in stolen goods every year. The Porch Pirate Act would apply the same penalties to the theft of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail to theft of packages from commercial and private carriers such as Amazon, FedEx, and UPS.
“Americans shouldn’t have to worry whether their mail will arrive safely. Unfortunately, rising mail theft is a real problem in our communities,” said Rep. Young Kim. “The punishment for mail thieves shouldn’t depend on which carrier the stolen package came from. That’s why I worked with Rep. Dean Phillips to introduce the Porch Pirate Act, which would right this wrong and ensure mail thieves are held accountable no matter what package they steal.”
“Porch pirates target packages delivered by private carriers like UPS, Amazon, and FedEx because they know online shoppers have little recourse to recoup losses under current law,” said Rep. Dean Phillips. “That’s why it’s time to make porch piracy a federal crime, just as it already is for USPS deliveries, and hold thieves accountable for their crimes.”
“Porch pirates plunder millions of packages each year, hurting Americans who rely on deliveries to get food, medicine, and other living essentials,” said Rep. Porter. “But if a pillaged package was delivered by a private carrier, it can be harder to get justice than for packages delivered by the Postal Service. The bipartisan Porch Pirates Act would set an equal standard for all deliveries, so prosecutors can better hold looters accountable for their lawbreaking.”
“Many Nevadans rely on home deliveries for essential goods, which is why it’s so important to address the rising threat of package theft,” said Rep. Horsford. “As online shopping becomes a daily necessity, we must protect our communities from porch piracy. The Porch Pirates Act will ensure that all package thefts, whether from USPS or private carriers, are met with the serious consequences they deserve.”
Reps. Kim and Phillips were joined by Reps. Reps. Colin Allred (TX-32), Jim Costa (CA-21), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), John Garamendi (CA-08), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Susie Lee (NV-03), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Scott Peters (CA-50), Katie Porter (CA-47), Bradley Schneider (IL-10), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Charles Fleischmann (TN-03), Jake LaTurner (KS-02), Lloyd Smucker (PA-11), Michelle Steel (CA-45), Claudia Tenney (NY-24), William Timmons (SC-04), Jefferson Van Drew (NJ-02), and Beth Van Duyne (TX-24) in introducing the bill.
In June 2024, Rep. Kim and Rep. Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) introduced the bipartisan Maximizing Agency Integration on Letter Theft (MAIL Theft) Act (H.R. 8596) to combat the nationwide increase in mail theft by creating federal agency coordination and raising the issue as a priority for federal law enforcement.
