I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3437 

To ensure State and local compliance with all Federal immigration detainers 

on aliens in custody and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2015 

Mr. SESSIONS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ensure State and local compliance with all Federal immigration detainers on aliens in custody 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 ‘‘Protecting American 

5 Lives Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS AND SEVERABILITY. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

8 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

9 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

3 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean4 ing given to such term in section 101(a)(36) of the 

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

6 1101(a)(36)). 

7 (b) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 

8 the application of such provision to any person or cir9 cumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this Act, and 

10 the application of such provision to other persons not simi11 larly situated or to other circumstances, shall not be af12 fected by such invalidation. 

13 SEC. 3. INFORMATION SHARING REGARDING CRIMINAL 

14 ALIENS. 

15 Section 642 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 

16 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1373) is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘Immigration and Naturaliza19 tion Service’’ each place it appears and inserting 

20 ‘‘Department of Homeland Security’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘may’’ and in22 serting ‘‘shall’’; 

23 (3) in subsection (b)— 

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1 (A) by striking ‘‘no person or agency may’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘a person or agency shall not’’; 

3 and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘doing any of the following 

5 with respect to information’’ and inserting ‘‘un6 dertaking any of the following law enforcement 

7 activities’’; 

8 (4) by striking paragraphs (1) through (3) and 

9 inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) Notifying the Federal Government regard11 ing the presence of inadmissible and deportable 

12 aliens who are encountered by law enforcement per13 sonnel of a State or political subdivision of a State. 

14 ‘‘(2) Complying with requests for information 

15 from Federal law enforcement.’’; and 

16 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(d) SANCTUARY POLICES.—Notwithstanding any 

18 other provision of Federal, State, or local law, a Federal, 

19 State, or local government entity or official shall not issue 

20 in the form of resolutions, ordinances, administrative ac21 tions, general or special orders, or departmental policies 

22 that violate Federal law or restrict a State or political sub23 division of a State from complying with Federal law or 

24 coordinating with Federal law enforcement. 

25 ‘‘(e) COMPLIANCE.— 

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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State, or a political sub2 division of a State, that has in effect a statute, pol3 icy, or practice that prohibits law enforcement offi4 cers of the State, or of a political subdivision of the 

5 State, from assisting or cooperating with Federal 

6 immigration law enforcement in the course of car7 rying out the officers’ routine law enforcement du8 ties shall not be eligible to receive— 

9 ‘‘(A) any of the funds that would otherwise 

10 be allocated to the State or political subdivision 

11 under section 241(i) of the Immigration and 

12 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(i)) or the ‘Cops 

13 on the Beat’ program under part Q of title I of 

14 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

15 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.); or 

16 ‘‘(B) any other law enforcement or Depart17 ment of Homeland Security grant. 

18 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL DETERMINATION.— 

19 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 

20 March 1 of each year, the Secretary of Home21 land Security shall determine which States or 

22 political subdivisions of a State are not in com23 pliance with this section and report such deter24 mination to Congress. 

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1 ‘‘(B) INELIGIBILITY FOR FINANCIAL AS2 SISTANCE.—Any jurisdiction that the Secretary 

3 determines is not in compliance under subpara4 graph (A)— 

5 ‘‘(i) shall be ineligible to receive Fed6 eral financial assistance as provided in 

7 paragraph (1) for a minimum period of 1 

8 year; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) shall only become eligible for 

10 such assistance after the Secretary certifies 

11 that the jurisdiction is in compliance. 

12 ‘‘(3) REALLOCATION.—Any funds that are not 

13 allocated to a State or to a political subdivision of 

14 a State, due to the failure of the State, or of the po15 litical subdivision of the State, to comply with this 

16 section shall be reallocated to States, or to political 

17 subdivisions of States, that comply with such sub18 section. 

19 ‘‘(f) STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PROVI20 SION OF INFORMATION ABOUT APPREHENDED ALIENS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—In compli22 ance with this section and section 434 of the Per23 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec24 onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1644), each State, 

25 and each political subdivision of a State, shall promstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 vide the Secretary of Homeland Security in a timely 

2 manner with identifying information with respect to 

3 each alien in the custody of the State, or a political 

4 subdivision of the State, who is believed to be inad5 missible or deportable. 

6 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPLIANCE.—Not 

7 later than March 1 of each year, the Secretary shall 

8 determine which States, or the political subdivisions 

9 of States, are not in compliance with this section 

10 and submit such determination to Congress. 

11 ‘‘(g) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Secretary of Homeland 

12 Security shall reimburse States, and political subdivisions 

13 of a State, for all reasonable costs, as determined by the 

14 Secretary, incurred by the State, or the political subdivi15 sion of a State, as a result of providing information under 

16 subsection (f)(1). 

17 ‘‘(h) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

18 require law enforcement officials of a State, or from polit19 ical subdivisions of a State— 

20 ‘‘(1) to provide the Secretary of Homeland Se21 curity with information related to a victim of a 

22 crime or witness to a criminal offense; or 

23 ‘‘(2) to otherwise report or arrest such a victim 

24 or witness.’’. 

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1 SEC. 4. CLARIFYING THE AUTHORITY OF ICE DETAINERS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided by 

3 Federal law or rule of procedure, the Secretary shall exe4 cute all lawful writs, process, and orders issued under the 

5 authority of the United States, and shall command all nec6 essary assistance to execute the Secretary’s duties. 

7 (b) STATE AND LOCAL COOPERATION WITH DHS 

8 DETAINERS.—A State, or a political subdivision of a 

9 State, that has in effect a statute or policy or practice 

10 providing that it not comply with any Department de11 tainer ordering that it temporarily hold an alien in their 

12 custody so that the alien may be taken into Federal cus13 tody, or transport the alien for transfer to Federal cus14 tody, shall not be eligible to receive— 

15 (1) any of the funds that would otherwise be al16 located to the State or political subdivision under 

17 section 241(i) of the Immigration and Nationality 

18 Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(i)) or the ‘‘Cops on the Beat’’ 

19 program under part Q of title I of the Omnibus 

20 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

21 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.); or 

22 (2) any other law enforcement or Department 

23 grant. 

24 (c) IMMUNITY.—A State or a political subdivision of 

25 a State acting in compliance with a Department detainer 

26 who temporarily holds aliens in its custody so that they 

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1 may be taken into Federal custody, or transports the 

2 aliens for transfer to Federal custody, shall be considered 

3 to be acting under color of Federal authority for purposes 

4 of determining its liability, and immunity from suit, in 

5 civil actions brought by the aliens under Federal or State 

6 law. 

7 (d) PROBABLE CAUSE.—It is the sense of Congress 

8 that the Department has probable cause to believe that 

9 an alien is inadmissible or deportable when it issues a de10 tainer regarding such alien under the standards in place 

11 on the date of introduction of this Act. 

12 SEC. 5. ILLEGAL REENTRY. 

13 Section 276 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

14 (8 U.S.C. 1326) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a), in the undesignated mat16 ter following paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘not more 

17 than 2 years,’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than 5 

18 years,’’; and 

19 (2) in subsection (b)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘not 

21 less than 5 years and’’ after ‘‘imprisoned’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘not 

23 less than 5 years and’’ after ‘‘imprisoned’’; 

24 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘sen25 tence.’’ and inserting ‘‘sentence;’’; and 

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1 (D) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘not 

2 less than 5 years and’’ after ‘‘imprisoned for’’. 

Æ 

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