Sponsor
William Francis Hagerty
Senator · R-TN
The bill strengthens federal immigration enforcement access to local immigration-status information (potentially improving detentions and investigations) at the cost of increased risk to immigrants' liberty, reduced community trust in local authorities, and added local administrative burden.
Local and federal law-enforcement (including DHS) are able to obtain and act on immigration-status information from DC officials more easily, improving federal immigration enforcement and case identification.
Crime victims and witnesses can be explicitly protected from being forced to share immigration status, which may encourage some victims/witnesses — including immigrants — to cooperate with police.
Immigrants in DC, including lawful residents, face a higher risk of being arrested or referred to federal immigration authorities because local officials can no longer refuse to share immigration-status information.
Trust between immigrant communities and local police/services is likely to decline, reducing crime reporting and cooperation with authorities and undermining public safety.
DC agencies may incur additional administrative burdens and coordination costs responding to federal detainer and notification requests, stretching local government resources.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Stops the District of Columbia from keeping policies that bar sharing immigration/citizenship status or refusing DHS detainers/notifications, except for victims or witnesses who come forward.
Senator · R-TN
Official title: Require the District of Columbia to comply with Federal immigration laws.
Introduced April 30, 2025 by William Francis Hagerty · Last progress April 30, 2025
Prohibits the District of Columbia from keeping any law, rule, policy, or practice that bars or limits District officials or agencies from sharing, receiving, keeping, or exchanging information about a person’s citizenship or immigration status with federal, state, or local governments. It also forbids policies that prevent the District from complying with Department of Homeland Security requests to honor immigration detainers or to notify DHS of an individual’s release, while preserving a narrow exception if the person has come forward as a victim or witness to a crime.