Sponsors (2)
The bill strengthens local–federal immigration-enforcement coordination and the ability to locate individuals with immigration violations, but does so at the cost of greater risks to immigrants' liberty, potential reductions in crime reporting that can harm public safety, and modest added administrative costs for the District.
District government entities and local law enforcement can share immigration-status information with federal, state, and local authorities and comply with DHS detainers/notifications, improving coordination for immigration enforcement and helping federal authorities locate individuals with immigration violations.
Crime victims and witnesses — particularly immigrants — may be less likely to report crimes or cooperate with police because they fear information will be shared with immigration authorities, reducing public safety and hindering law enforcement investigations.
Immigrants (including lawful residents) face a higher risk of arrest or deportation because local officials are required to share status information with immigration authorities.
The District government may incur administrative costs to process and respond to DHS detainer requests and to maintain and share immigration-status records, raising local government expenditures and costs for taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prevents D.C. from blocking officials or agencies from sharing immigration or citizenship status information or from complying with DHS detainer and notification requests.
Prohibits the District of Columbia from having any law, ordinance, policy, or practice that stops District officials or entities from sharing, receiving, keeping, or exchanging information about a person’s citizenship or immigration status with federal, state, or local governments. It also requires the District not to block compliance with Department of Homeland Security requests under the Immigration and Nationality Act to honor detainers or to notify federal authorities about an individual’s release. The measure also sets a short title for the Act. It does not provide funding or specify enforcement mechanisms beyond the prohibitions on local restrictions.
Introduced March 11, 2025 by Clay Higgins · Last progress June 12, 2025