Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025

Allows certain victims of crimes (or their close relatives if the victim is dead or permanently disabled) to sue a State or local government for compensatory damages when an alien who harmed them had been arrested, convicted, or sentenced and the State/locality failed to honor specified immigration detainers, notifications, or other immigration-related requests. The law creates a 10-year window to bring these cases, requires courts to award reasonable attorney’s fees to prevailing plaintiffs, and conditions some federal grants on States waiving sovereign immunity for these “sanctuary-related” civil actions. It also says that when a State or local officer complies with a DHS detainer, that officer is treated as acting as an agent of the federal government (with claims redirected to the United States under federal law), but it does not shield anyone who knowingly violates constitutional or civil rights.