II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2059 

To provide a civil remedy for individuals harmed by sanctuary jurisdiction 

policies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2019 

Mr. TILLIS (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Ms. 

ERNST, and Mr. CRUZ) 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 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) SANCTUARY JURISDICTION.— 

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

10 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘sanctuary jurisVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2059.IS S2059

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1 diction’’ means any State or political subdivi2 sion of a State that has in effect a statute, ordi3 nance, policy, or practice that prohibits or re4 stricts any government entity or official from— 

5 (i) sending, receiving, maintaining, or 

6 exchanging with any Federal, State, or 

7 local government entity information re8 garding the citizenship or immigration sta9 tus of any alien; or 

10 (ii) complying with a request lawfully 

11 made by the Department of Homeland Se12 curity under section 236 or 287 of the Im13 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

14 1226 and 1357) to comply with a detainer 

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

16 (B) EXCEPTION.—A State or political sub17 division of a State shall not be deemed a sanc18 tuary jurisdiction based solely on having a pol19 icy whereby its officials will not share informa20 tion regarding, or comply with a request made 

21 by the Department of Homeland Security under 

22 section 236 or 287 of the Immigration and Na23 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226 and 1357) to com24 ply with a detainer regarding, an alien who 


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1 comes forward as a victim or a witness to a 

2 criminal offense. 

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

4 policy’’ means a statute, ordinance, policy, or prac5 tice referred to in paragraph (1)(A). 

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

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

8 action brought against a sanctuary jurisdiction by 

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

10 individual) who— 

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

12 benefitted from a sanctuary policy of the sanc13 tuary jurisdiction; and 

14 (B) would not have been so injured or 

15 harmed but for the alien receiving the benefit of 

16 such sanctuary policy. 

17 SEC. 3. CIVIL ACTION FOR HARM BY AN ALIEN THAT BENE18 FITTED FROM A SANCTUARY POLICY. 

19 (a) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

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

21 spouse, parent, or child of such individual (if the in22 dividual is deceased or permanently incapacitated), 

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

24 (as defined by the State) for which an alien (as de25 fined in section 101(a)(3) of the Immigration and 


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1 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(3))) has been ar2 rested, convicted, or sentenced to a term of impris3 onment of at least 1 year, may bring an action for 

4 compensatory damages against a State or a political 

5 subdivision of a State in the appropriate Federal or 

6 State court if the State or political subdivision failed 

7 to comply with— 

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

9 was lawfully made by the Department of Home10 land Security under section 236 or 287 of the 

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

12 1226 and 1357); and 

13 (B) a detainer for, or notify about the re14 lease of, the alien. 

15 (2) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—An action 

16 brought under this subsection may not be brought 

17 later than 10 years after the occurrence of the 

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

19 crime, whichever occurs later. 

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

21 any action or proceeding under this subsection the 

22 court shall allow a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable 

23 attorney’s fee as part of the costs, and include ex24 pert fees as part of the attorney’s fee. 

25 (b) WAIVER OF IMMUNITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any State or political sub2 division of a State that accepts a grant described in 

3 paragraph (2) from the Federal Government shall 

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

5 waive any immunity of such State or political sub6 division relating to a sanctuary-related civil action. 

7 (2) GRANTS DESCRIBED.—The grants described 

8 in this paragraph are— 

9 (A) a grant for public works and economic 

10 development under section 201(a) of the Public 

11 Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 

12 (42 U.S.C. 3141(a)); 

13 (B) a grant for planning and administra14 tive expenses under section 203(a) of such Act 

15 (42 U.S.C. 3143(a)); 

16 (C) a supplemental grant under section 

17 205(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3145(b)); 

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

19 technical assistance under section 207(a) of 

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

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

22 community development block grant made pur23 suant to title I of the Housing and Community 

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

25 seq.). 


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1 (3) EXCEPTION.—Grants described in para2 graph (2)(E) shall not include any disaster relief 

3 grants to address the damage in an area for which 

4 the President has declared a disaster under title IV 

5 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer6 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.). 

7 SEC. 4. ENSURING COOPERATION BETWEEN FEDERAL AND 

8 LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO 

9 SAFEGUARD OUR COMMUNITIES. 

10 (a) AUTHORITY TO COOPERATE WITH FEDERAL OF11 FICIALS.—A State, a political subdivision of a State, or 

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

13 subdivision that complies with a detainer issued by the De14 partment of Homeland Security under section 236 or 287 

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

16 and 1357)— 

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

18 the Department of Homeland Security; and 

19 (2) shall comply with section 287(d) of the Im20 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(d)) 

21 and section 287.5(d) of title 8, Code of Federal Reg22 ulations. 

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

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

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


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1 subdivision challenging the legality of the seizure or deten2 tion of an individual pursuant to a detainer issued by the 

3 Department of Homeland Security under section 236 or 

4 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

5 1226 and 1357)— 

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

7 shall not be liable for any action taken in accordance 

8 with the detainer; and 

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

10 agent of the State or political subdivision were taken 

11 in accordance with the detainer— 

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

13 deemed— 

14 (i) to be an employee of the Federal 

15 Government and an investigative or law 

16 enforcement officer; and 

17 (ii) to have been acting within the 

18 scope of his or her employment under sec19 tion 1346(b) of title 28, United States 

20 Code, and chapter 171 of such title; 

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

22 States Code, shall provide the exclusive remedy 

23 for the plaintiff; and 

24 (C) the United States shall be substituted 

25 as defendant in the proceeding. 


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1 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion may be construed to provide immunity to any person 

3 who knowingly violates the civil or constitutional rights of 

4 an individual. 

Æ 


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