Sponsors (6)
The bill strengthens federal immigration enforcement by incentivizing and protecting cooperating jurisdictions, improving identification and transfer of noncitizens, and offering victims new remedies — but at the cost of reduced local control, higher detention and civil‑liberty risks for immigrants,
State and local governments, law enforcement, and detention contractors that cooperate with federal immigration authorities will receive financial incentives, legal protections (including immunity from many monetary-damage suits), and clearer federal backing—enabling faster identification, detention, and transfer of noncitizens suspected of removability.
Members of the public may see improved national security outcomes because more noncitizens suspected of removable offenses can be identified, detained, and transferred under expanded detainer authority and cooperation rules.
Victims of specified violent crimes (murder, rape, felony, aggravated-felony) gain a private legal remedy to sue jurisdictions that released convicted aliens who were subject to detainers, and prevailing plaintiffs can recover reasonable attorney and expert fees, lowering financial barriers to suit.
Immigrant communities (including lawful residents who fear misidentification) are likely to avoid reporting crimes or cooperating with police because of immigration status inquiries and increased detentions, undermining community trust and overall public safety.
Noncooperative jurisdictions risk losing critical federal public-safety grants (Byrne JAG, COPS, DOJ/DHS funds) or having funds reallocated to cooperating jurisdictions, reducing local policing and crime-prevention resources and shifting taxpayer-funded resources away from vulnerable communities.
State and local governments lose policy control because federal law and DHS authority supersede local limits on honoring detainers and other cooperation restrictions, constraining local priorities for policing, prosecution, and jail management.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 23, 2026 by Tom McClintock · Last progress February 23, 2026
Strengthens federal authority to compel and incentivize state and local cooperation with immigration enforcement by clarifying that all government entities may collect, share, and inquire about immigration or citizenship status and by expanding federal detainer rules. It authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to deny, withhold, or reallocate certain federal law-enforcement grants and custody transfers for jurisdictions that do not cooperate, creates new procedural rules and a duty for DHS to issue detainers when there is probable cause a person is removable, and substitutes the United States as the defendant for some local actors who comply with detainers while allowing a narrow private right of action for victims when detainers are declined. The bill preempts conflicting local laws, shields cooperating state and local actors from most liability, sets timing limits and definitions for detainer procedures, and includes a severability provision so other parts remain effective if courts strike specific provisions. These changes affect immigrants in custody, local and state governments, law enforcement agencies and contractors, and communities with high immigrant populations; they also create legal and fiscal incentives for jurisdictions to align with federal immigration enforcement policies.