Sponsors (7)
Introduced March 6, 2025 by Darrell Issa · Last progress March 6, 2025
The bill gives U.S. national victims a new private right to sue and may push jurisdictions to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, but it also risks costly litigation, reduced local autonomy, chilled trust with immigrant communities, and shifted local policing priorities.
U.S. national crime victims can sue state or local jurisdictions whose policies allegedly enabled an offender, creating a private remedy and potential compensation for harmed individuals.
State and local governments may be incentivized to cooperate more with federal immigration authorities, which could reduce recidivism by noncitizen offenders and improve public safety/national security.
Immigrant communities and localities could lose control over policing choices because the threat of lawsuits may chill local policies limiting cooperation with ICE, undermining trust and discouraging crime reporting.
Jurisdictions worried about liability could shift law enforcement priorities toward immigration enforcement, diverting resources from local public-safety needs and altering policing focus in urban communities.
States and localities face potentially costly litigation and damages awards, increasing legal expenses and creating budgetary pressures that could lead to higher taxes or cuts to local services.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal private right to sue state or local "sanctuary jurisdictions" for damages or injunctions when an alien associated with that jurisdiction commits a crime against the plaintiff.
Creates a private federal civil cause of action allowing any U.S. national to sue a state or local government that qualifies as a “sanctuary jurisdiction” when an alien who was located in that jurisdiction (or later relocates) commits a crime against the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s immediate family. Plaintiffs may seek injunctive relief or compensatory damages; local units are protected from liability when they are enforcing or implementing a State-imposed law, ordinance, regulation, resolution, policy, or practice.