Sponsors (9)
Official title: Ensure that State and local law enforcement may cooperate with Federal officials to protect our communities from violent criminals and suspected terrorists who are illegally present in the United States.
Introduced April 16, 2026 by John Cornyn · Last progress April 16, 2026
The bill shifts liability and responsibility for immigration detainer enforcement to the federal government and rewards jurisdictions that cooperate with DHS (protecting cooperating jurisdictions and preserving some program funds), but it does so at the cost of expanding enforcement authority, narrowing private remedies, weakening local accountability, and risking substantial loss of federal grants and services for jurisdictions labeled 'sanctuary.'
State and local officers who honor DHS detainers will be treated as acting for the United States, shifting legal responsibility to the federal government and centralizing lawsuits under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which reduces direct local liability exposure.
State and local governments that fully cooperate with DHS face fewer penalties or 'sanctuary' restrictions, reducing the risk of federal sanctions for cooperating jurisdictions.
Jurisdictions that limit information-sharing only for victim/witness confidentiality are explicitly exempted, preserving victim cooperation with police and access to services in those contexts.
States, cities, universities, and local programs labeled as 'sanctuary jurisdictions' risk losing major federal grants (e.g., CDBG, EPA, NEH, STEM, EDA, Brownfields), threatening budgets across many sectors.
Communities that lose federal grant funding (including CDBG and EDA) may see reduced infrastructure, environmental cleanup, and community services, harming low-income, rural, and urban residents who rely on those programs.
Students and higher-education institutions in designated sanctuary jurisdictions could be barred from STEM and other federal research/training grants, damaging research programs and student opportunities.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Treats local compliance with DHS detainers as federal action with liability protection, defines "sanctuary jurisdiction," and bars certain federal grants to such jurisdictions.
Treats States and localities that comply with DHS immigration detainer requests as agents of the Department of Homeland Security, grants them federal-agent status and liability protections for actions taken to honor detainers, and clarifies that deliberate civil-rights violations remain actionable. It defines "sanctuary jurisdiction" by statute and makes jurisdictions that meet that definition ineligible for certain federal grants while creating a process for some state attorneys general to seek injunctions to withhold grants when a released noncitizen later commits an interstate crime. Also restructures and clarifies language in two federal grant statutes (National Endowment for the Humanities and National Environmental Education Act programs), adds grant ineligibility tied to the new "sanctuary jurisdiction" definition, and creates standing and remedies for certain state officials to pursue withholding of federal assistance from those jurisdictions.