I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1928 

To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility 

Act of 1996 to impose penalties for State noncompliance with enforcement of immigration law, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 27, 2019 

Mr. RESCHENTHALER (for himself, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. STEUBE, and Mr. CLINE) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 

Responsibility Act of 1996 to impose penalties for State 

noncompliance with enforcement of immigration law, 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 ‘‘No Sanctuary for 

5 Criminals Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATE NONCOMPLIANCE WITH ENFORCEMENT OF 

2 IMMIGRATION LAW. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 642 of the Illegal Immi4 gration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 

5 (8 U.S.C. 1373) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro9 vision of Federal, State, or local law, no Federal, State, 

10 or local government entity, and no individual, may prohibit 

11 or in any way restrict, a Federal, State, or local govern12 ment entity, official, or other personnel from complying 

13 with the immigration laws (as defined in section 

14 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

15 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))), or from assisting or cooperating 

16 with Federal law enforcement entities, officials, or other 

17 personnel regarding the enforcement of these laws.’’; 

18 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(b) LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES.—Notwith21 standing any other provision of Federal, State, or local 

22 law, no Federal, State, or local government entity, and no 

23 individual, may prohibit, or in any way restrict, a Federal, 

24 State, or local government entity, official, or other per25 sonnel from undertaking any of the following law enforce26 ment activities as they relate to information regarding the 


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1 citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, the 

2 inadmissibility or deportability, or the custody status, of 

3 any individual: 

4 ‘‘(1) Making inquiries to any individual in order 

5 to obtain such information regarding such individual 

6 or any other individuals. 

7 ‘‘(2) Notifying the Federal Government regard8 ing the presence of individuals who are encountered 

9 by law enforcement officials or other personnel of a 

10 State or political subdivision of a State. 

11 ‘‘(3) Complying with requests for such informa12 tion from Federal law enforcement entities, officials, 

13 or other personnel.’’; 

14 (3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Immigration 

15 and Naturalization Service’’ and inserting ‘‘Depart16 ment of Homeland Security’’; and 

17 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN GRANT PRO20 GRAMS.—A State, or a political subdivision of a 

21 State, that is found not to be in compliance with 

22 subsection (a) or (b) shall not be eligible to receive— 

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

24 be allocated to the State or political subdivision 

25 under section 241(i) of the Immigration and 


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1 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(i)), the ‘Cops 

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

3 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

4 Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.), or the 

5 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 

6 Grant Program under subpart 1 of part E of 

7 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

8 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.); 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(B) any other grant administered by the 

11 Department of Justice that is substantially re12 lated to law enforcement (including enforcement 

13 of the immigration laws), immigration, enforce14 ment of the immigration laws, or naturalization 

15 or administered by the Department of Home16 land Security that is substantially related to im17 migration, the enforcement of the immigration 

18 laws, or naturalization. 

19 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER OF CUSTODY OF ALIENS PEND20 ING REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.—The Secretary, at the 

21 Secretary’s discretion, may decline to transfer an 

22 alien in the custody of the Department of Homeland 

23 Security to a State or political subdivision of a State 

24 found not to be in compliance with subsection (a) or 


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1 (b), regardless of whether the State or political sub2 division of the State has issued a writ or warrant. 

3 ‘‘(3) TRANSFER OF CUSTODY OF CERTAIN

4 ALIENS PROHIBITED.—The Secretary shall not 

5 transfer an alien with a final order of removal pur6 suant to paragraph (1)(A) or (5) of section 241(a) 

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

8 1231(a)) to a State or a political subdivision of a 

9 State that is found not to be in compliance with sub10 section (a) or (b). 

11 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL DETERMINATION.—The Secretary 

12 shall determine for each calendar year which States 

13 or political subdivision of States are not in compli14 ance with subsection (a) or (b) and shall report such 

15 determinations to Congress by March 1 of each suc16 ceeding calendar year. 

17 ‘‘(5) REPORTS.—The Secretary of Homeland 

18 Security shall issue a report concerning the compli19 ance with subsections (a) and (b) of any particular 

20 State or political subdivision of a State at the re21 quest of the House or the Senate Judiciary Com22 mittee. Any jurisdiction that is found not to be in 

23 compliance shall be ineligible to receive Federal fi24 nancial assistance as provided in paragraph (1) for 

25 a minimum period of 1 year, and shall only become 


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1 eligible again after the Secretary of Homeland Secu2 rity certifies that the jurisdiction has come into com3 pliance. 

4 ‘‘(6) REALLOCATION.—Any funds that are not 

5 allocated to a State or to a political subdivision of 

6 a State due to the failure of the State or of the po7 litical subdivision of the State to comply with sub8 section (a) or (b) shall be reallocated to States or to 

9 political subdivisions of States that comply with both 

10 such subsections. 

11 ‘‘(e) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

12 require law enforcement officials from States, or from po13 litical subdivisions of States, to report or arrest victims 

14 or witnesses of a criminal offense.’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

17 of this Act, except that subsection (d) of section 642 of 

18 the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsi19 bility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1373), as added by this sec20 tion, shall apply only to prohibited acts committed on or 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 3. CLARIFYING THE AUTHORITY OF ICE DETAINERS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 287(d) of the Immigra24 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(d)) is amended 

25 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(d) DETAINER OF INADMISSIBLE OR DEPORTABLE

2 ALIENS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual 

4 who is arrested by any Federal, State, or local law 

5 enforcement official or other personnel for the al6 leged violation of any criminal or motor vehicle law, 

7 the Secretary may issue a detainer regarding the in8 dividual to any Federal, State, or local law enforce9 ment entity, official, or other personnel if the Sec10 retary has probable cause to believe that the indi11 vidual is an inadmissible or deportable alien. 

12 ‘‘(2) PROBABLE CAUSE.—Probable cause is 

13 deemed to be established if— 

14 ‘‘(A) the individual who is the subject of 

15 the detainer matches, pursuant to biometric 

16 confirmation or other Federal database records, 

17 the identity of an alien who the Secretary has 

18 reasonable grounds to believe to be inadmissible 

19 or deportable; 

20 ‘‘(B) the individual who is the subject of 

21 the detainer is the subject of ongoing removal 

22 proceedings, including matters where a charg23 ing document has already been served; 

24 ‘‘(C) the individual who is the subject of 

25 the detainer has previously been ordered reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Apr 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1928.IH H1928

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1 moved from the United States and such an 

2 order is administratively final; 

3 ‘‘(D) the individual who is the subject of 

4 the detainer has made voluntary statements or 

5 provided reliable evidence that indicate that 

6 they are an inadmissible or deportable alien; or 

7 ‘‘(E) the Secretary otherwise has reason8 able grounds to believe that the individual who 

9 is the subject of the detainer is an inadmissible 

10 or deportable alien. 

11 ‘‘(3) TRANSFER OF CUSTODY.—If the Federal, 

12 State, or local law enforcement entity, official, or 

13 other personnel to whom a detainer is issued com14 plies with the detainer and detains for purposes of 

15 transfer of custody to the Department of Homeland 

16 Security the individual who is the subject of the de17 tainer, the Department may take custody of the in18 dividual within 48 hours (excluding weekends and 

19 holidays), but in no instance more than 96 hours, 

20 following the date that the individual is otherwise to 

21 be released from the custody of the relevant Federal, 

22 State, or local law enforcement entity.’’. 

23 (b) IMMUNITY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State or a political sub25 division of a State (and the officials and personnel 


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1 of the State or subdivision acting in their official ca2 pacities), and a nongovernmental entity (and its per3 sonnel) contracted by the State or political subdivi4 sion for the purpose of providing detention, acting in 

5 compliance with a Department of Homeland Secu6 rity detainer issued pursuant to this section who 

7 temporarily holds an alien in its custody pursuant to 

8 the terms of a detainer so that the alien may be 

9 taken into the custody of the Department of Home10 land Security, shall be considered to be acting under 

11 color of Federal authority for purposes of deter12 mining their liability and shall be held harmless for 

13 their compliance with the detainer in any suit seek14 ing any punitive, compensatory, or other monetary 

15 damages. 

16 (2) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS DEFENDANT.— 

17 In any civil action arising out of the compliance with 

18 a Department of Homeland Security detainer by a 

19 State or a political subdivision of a State (and the 

20 officials and personnel of the State or subdivision 

21 acting in their official capacities), or a nongovern22 mental entity (and its personnel) contracted by the 

23 State or political subdivision for the purpose of pro24 viding detention, the United States Government 

25 shall be the proper party named as the defendant in 


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1 the suit in regard to the detention resulting from 

2 compliance with the detainer. 

3 (3) BAD FAITH EXCEPTION.—Paragraphs (1) 

4 and (2) shall not apply to any mistreatment of an 

5 individual by a State or a political subdivision of a 

6 State (and the officials and personnel of the State 

7 or subdivision acting in their official capacities), or 

8 a nongovernmental entity (and its personnel) con9 tracted by the State or political subdivision for the 

10 purpose of providing detention. 

11 (c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

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

13 spouse, parent, or child of that individual (if the in14 dividual is deceased), who is the victim of a murder, 

15 rape, or any felony, as defined by the State, for 

16 which an alien (as defined in section 101(a)(3) of 

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

18 1101(a)(3))) has been convicted and sentenced to a 

19 term of imprisonment of at least 1 year, may bring 

20 an action against a State or political subdivision of 

21 a State or public official acting in an official capac22 ity in the appropriate Federal court if the State or 

23 political subdivision, except as provided in paragraph 

24 (3)— 


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1 (A) released the alien from custody prior 

2 to the commission of such crime as a con3 sequence of the State or political subdivision’s 

4 declining to honor a detainer issued pursuant to 

5 section 287(d)(1) of the Immigration and Na6 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(d)(1)); 

7 (B) has in effect a statute, policy, or prac8 tice not in compliance with section 642 of the 

9 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re10 sponsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1373) as 

11 amended, and as a consequence of its statute, 

12 policy, or practice, released the alien from cus13 tody prior to the commission of such crime; or 

14 (C) has in effect a statute, policy, or prac15 tice requiring a subordinate political subdivision 

16 to decline to honor any or all detainers issued 

17 pursuant to section 287(d)(1) of the Immigra18 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(d)(1)), 

19 and, as a consequence of its statute, policy or 

20 practice, the subordinate political subdivision 

21 declined to honor a detainer issued pursuant to 

22 such section, and as a consequence released the 

23 alien from custody prior to the commission of 

24 such crime. 


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1 (2) LIMITATIONS ON BRINGING ACTION.—An 

2 action may not be brought under this subsection 

3 later than 10 years following the occurrence of the 

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

5 crime, whichever occurs later. 

6 (3) PROPER DEFENDANT.—If a political sub7 division of a State declines to honor a detainer 

8 issued pursuant to section 287(d)(1) of the Immi9 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(d)) as 

10 a consequence of the State or another political sub11 division with jurisdiction over the subdivision prohib12 iting the subdivision through a statute or other legal 

13 requirement of the State or other political subdivi14 sion— 

15 (A) from honoring the detainer; or 

16 (B) fully complying with section 642 of the 

17 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re18 sponsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1373), 

19 and, as a consequence of the statute or other legal 

20 requirement of the State or other political subdivi21 sion, the subdivision released the alien referred to in 

22 paragraph (1) from custody prior to the commission 

23 of the crime referred to in that paragraph, the State 

24 or other political subdivision that enacted the statute 

25 or other legal requirement, shall be deemed to be the 


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1 proper defendant in a cause of action under this 

2 subsection, and no such cause of action may be 

3 maintained against the political subdivision which 

4 declined to honor the detainer. 

5 (4) ATTORNEY’S FEE AND OTHER COSTS.—In 

6 any action or proceeding under this subsection the 

7 court shall allow a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable 

8 attorney’s fee as part of the costs, and include ex9 pert fees as part of the attorney’s fee. 

10 (d) ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN GRANT PROGRAMS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para12 graph (2), a State or political subdivision of a State 

13 that has in effect a statute, policy or practice pro14 viding that it not comply with any or all Department 

15 of Homeland Security detainers issued pursuant to 

16 section 287(d)(1) of the Immigration and Nation17 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(d)) shall not be eligible to 

18 receive— 

19 (A) any of the funds that would otherwise 

20 be allocated to the State or political subdivision 

21 under section 241(i) of the Immigration and 

22 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(i)), the ‘‘Cops 

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

24 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

25 Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), or the 


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1 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 

2 Grant Program under subpart 1 of part E of 

3 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

4 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.); 

5 or 

6 (B) any other grant administered by the 

7 Department of Justice that is substantially re8 lated to law enforcement (including enforcement 

9 of the immigration laws), immigration, or natu10 ralization or grant administered by the Depart11 ment of Homeland Security that is substantially 

12 related to immigration, enforcement of the im13 migration laws, or naturalization. 

14 (2) EXCEPTION.—A political subdivision de15 scribed in subsection (c)(3) that declines to honor a 

16 detainer issued pursuant to section 287(d)(1) of the 

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

18 1357(d)(1)) as a consequence of being required to 

19 comply with a statute or other legal requirement of 

20 a State or another political subdivision with jurisdic21 tion over that political subdivision, shall remain eli22 gible to receive grant funds described in paragraph 

23 (1). In the case described in the previous sentence, 

24 the State or political subdivision that enacted the 


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1 statute or other legal requirement shall not be eligi2 ble to receive such funds. 

Æ 


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