District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act

This bill would stop Washington, DC from having “sanctuary” policies that block city workers or police from sharing a person’s immigration status with other governments, or from honoring Department of Homeland Security requests to hold someone a bit longer or to tell the agency when that person will be released. The goal is to make DC follow federal immigration law and work with federal officials.

There is an exception to protect people who come forward as crime victims or witnesses. DC could still have a rule that it won’t share information about those individuals or hold them for immigration reasons if they report a crime or help as a witness.

• Who is affected: People in DC, including city agencies and law enforcement; crime victims and witnesses are treated differently for protection.
• What changes: DC could not block staff from sharing immigration status information or from following lawful federal requests to detain or notify about someone’s release; exception for victims and witnesses.
• When: Would take effect if enacted into law.