II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 59 

To provide a civil remedy for individuals harmed by sanctuary jurisdiction 

policies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 27, 2021 

Mr. TILLIS (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Ms. ERNST, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. INHOFE, 

Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. ROUNDS, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. LEE, 

Mr. DAINES, Mr. HAWLEY, and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide a civil remedy for individuals harmed by 

sanctuary jurisdiction policies, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice for Victims 

5 of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) SANCTUARY JURISDICTION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘sanctuary juris3 diction’’ means any State or political subdivi4 sion of a State that has in effect a statute, ordi5 nance, policy, or practice that prohibits or re6 stricts any government entity or official from— 

7 (i) sending, receiving, maintaining, or 

8 exchanging with any Federal, State, or 

9 local government entity information re10 garding the citizenship or immigration sta11 tus of any alien; or 

12 (ii) complying with a request lawfully 

13 made by the Department of Homeland Se14 curity under section 236 or 287 of the Im15 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

16 1226 and 1357) to comply with a detainer 

17 for, or notify about the release of, an alien. 

18 (B) EXCEPTION.—A State or political sub19 division of a State shall not be deemed a sanc20 tuary jurisdiction based solely on having a pol21 icy whereby its officials will not share informa22 tion regarding, or comply with a request made 

23 by the Department of Homeland Security under 

24 section 236 or 287 of the Immigration and Na25 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226 and 1357) to comVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S59.IS S59

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1 ply with a detainer regarding, an alien who 

2 comes forward as a victim or a witness to a 

3 criminal offense. 

4 (2) SANCTUARY POLICY.—The term ‘‘sanctuary 

5 policy’’ means a statute, ordinance, policy, or prac6 tice referred to in paragraph (1)(A). 

7 (3) SANCTUARY-RELATED CIVIL ACTION.—The 

8 term ‘‘sanctuary-related civil action’’ means a civil 

9 action brought against a sanctuary jurisdiction by 

10 an individual (or the estate, survivors, or heirs of an 

11 individual) who— 

12 (A) is injured or harmed by an alien who 

13 benefitted from a sanctuary policy of the sanc14 tuary jurisdiction; and 

15 (B) would not have been so injured or 

16 harmed but for the alien receiving the benefit of 

17 such sanctuary policy. 

18 SEC. 3. CIVIL ACTION FOR HARM BY AN ALIEN THAT BENE19 FITTED FROM A SANCTUARY POLICY. 

20 (a) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

21 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any individual, or a 

22 spouse, parent, or child of such individual (if the in23 dividual is deceased or permanently incapacitated), 

24 who is the victim of a murder, rape, or any felony 

25 (as defined by the State) for which an alien (as deVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S59.IS S59

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1 fined in section 101(a)(3) of the Immigration and 

2 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(3))) has been ar3 rested, convicted, or sentenced to a term of impris4 onment of at least 1 year, may bring an action for 

5 compensatory damages against a State or a political 

6 subdivision of a State in the appropriate Federal or 

7 State court if the State or political subdivision failed 

8 to comply with— 

9 (A) a request with respect to an alien that 

10 was lawfully made by the Department of Home11 land Security under section 236 or 287 of the 

12 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

13 1226 and 1357); and 

14 (B) a detainer for, or notify about the re15 lease of, the alien. 

16 (2) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—An action 

17 brought under this subsection may not be brought 

18 later than 10 years after the occurrence of the 

19 crime, or death of a person as a result of such 

20 crime, whichever occurs later. 

21 (3) ATTORNEY’S FEE AND OTHER COSTS.—In 

22 any action or proceeding under this subsection the 

23 court shall allow a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable 

24 attorney’s fee as part of the costs, and include ex25 pert fees as part of the attorney’s fee. 


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1 (b) WAIVER OF IMMUNITY.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any State or political sub3 division of a State that accepts a grant described in 

4 paragraph (2) from the Federal Government shall 

5 agree, as a condition of receiving such grant, to 

6 waive any immunity of such State or political sub7 division relating to a sanctuary-related civil action. 

8 (2) GRANTS DESCRIBED.—The grants described 

9 in this paragraph are— 

10 (A) a grant for public works and economic 

11 development under section 201(a) of the Public 

12 Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 

13 (42 U.S.C. 3141(a)); 

14 (B) a grant for planning and administra15 tive expenses under section 203(a) of such Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 3143(a)); 

17 (C) a supplemental grant under section 

18 205(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3145(b)); 

19 (D) a grant for training, research, and 

20 technical assistance under section 207(a) of 

21 such Act (42 U.S.C. 3147(a)); and 

22 (E) except as provided in paragraph (3), a 

23 community development block grant made pur24 suant to title I of the Housing and Community 


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1 Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et 

2 seq.). 

3 (3) EXCEPTION.—Grants described in para4 graph (2)(E) shall not include any disaster relief 

5 grants to address the damage in an area for which 

6 the President has declared a disaster under title IV 

7 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer8 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.). 

9 SEC. 4. ENSURING COOPERATION BETWEEN FEDERAL AND 

10 LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO 

11 SAFEGUARD OUR COMMUNITIES. 

12 (a) AUTHORITY TO COOPERATE WITH FEDERAL OF13 FICIALS.—A State, a political subdivision of a State, or 

14 an officer, employee, or agent of such State or political 

15 subdivision that complies with a detainer issued by the De16 partment of Homeland Security under section 236 or 287 

17 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226 

18 and 1357)— 

19 (1) shall be deemed to be acting as an agent of 

20 the Department of Homeland Security; and 

21 (2) shall comply with section 287(d) of the Im22 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(d)) 

23 and section 287.5(d) of title 8, Code of Federal Reg24 ulations. 


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1 (b) LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.—In any legal proceeding 

2 brought against a State, a political subdivision of State, 

3 or an officer, employee, or agent of such State or political 

4 subdivision challenging the legality of the seizure or deten5 tion of an individual pursuant to a detainer issued by the 

6 Department of Homeland Security under section 236 or 

7 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

8 1226 and 1357)— 

9 (1) the State or political subdivision of a State 

10 shall not be liable for any action taken in accordance 

11 with the detainer; and 

12 (2) if the actions of the officer, employee, or 

13 agent of the State or political subdivision were taken 

14 in accordance with the detainer— 

15 (A) the officer, employee, or agent shall be 

16 deemed— 

17 (i) to be an employee of the Federal 

18 Government and an investigative or law 

19 enforcement officer; and 

20 (ii) to have been acting within the 

21 scope of his or her employment under sec22 tion 1346(b) of title 28, United States 

23 Code, and chapter 171 of such title; 


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1 (B) section 1346(b) of title 28, United 

2 States Code, shall provide the exclusive remedy 

3 for the plaintiff; and 

4 (C) the United States shall be substituted 

5 as defendant in the proceeding. 

6 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec7 tion may be construed to provide immunity to any person 

8 who knowingly violates the civil or constitutional rights of 

9 an individual. 

Æ 


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