Sponsors (55)
The bill strengthens state and federal enforcement tools—making it easier to detain certain noncitizens and for states to sue federal officials for faster judicial intervention—to enhance local perceptions of public safety, at the cost of expanded detention, increased taxpayer and litigation costs, constrained federal discretion, and risks to immigrants' due-process rights and national policy consistency.
State attorneys general can sue federal immigration officials and obtain expedited court scheduling, giving state governments faster legal tools to challenge releases, detention practices, and visa decisions they say harm public safety or state finances.
Immigrants arrested for burglary/theft/larceny/shoplifting are more likely to be transferred into federal DHS custody rather than being released, increasing the chance they remain in immigration proceedings rather than evading them.
Local law enforcement agencies can use detainers to transfer custody to DHS, improving coordination between local policing and federal immigration enforcement in individual cases.
Immigrants arrested for minor, state-defined theft-related offenses (even if charges are minor or later dropped) face mandatory or extended federal detention, raising serious risks to their liberty and due-process protections.
Taxpayers and the federal government will bear higher detention and legal-processing costs because more individuals are transferred into DHS custody and federal detention is extended or increased.
Broad new litigation powers for states combined with lower standing thresholds will spur more lawsuits against federal immigration officials, increasing federal litigation expenses, administrative burden, and uncertainty for immigration personnel.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Makes certain theft-related offenses trigger mandatory custody and detainer for inadmissible noncitizens and gives State attorneys general expedited standing to sue federal officials over detention, removal, parole, bond, and visa-termination decisions.
Makes certain theft-related offenses (burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting) trigger mandatory custody and detainer for noncitizens who are inadmissible under specified grounds, and requires DHS to issue detainers and take custody of such individuals if they are not already detained. Grants State attorneys general (or other authorized State officers) explicit ability to sue federal officials for injunctive relief and expedited court review when federal decisions or failures to act on detention, removal, parole, bond, or visa-termination requirements cause harm to the State or its residents (including financial harm over $100).
Official title: To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the United States with theft, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Mike Collins · Last progress January 8, 2025