I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2988 
To ensure State and local compliance with all Federal immigration detainers 
on aliens in custody, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2019 
Mr. GOODEN (for himself, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. WEBER of Texas, 
Mr. WALKER, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BABIN, Mr. 
TAYLOR, and Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 
to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To ensure State and local compliance with all Federal immi-
gration detainers on aliens in custody, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting American 
Lives Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CLARIFYING THE AUTHORITY OF ICE DETAINERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided by 
Federal law or rule of procedure, the Secretary shall exe-
cute all lawful writs, process, and orders issued under the 
authority of the United States, and shall command all nec-
essary assistance to execute the Secretary’s duties. 
(b) STATE AND LOCAL COOPERATION WITH DHS 
DETAINERS.—A State, or a political subdivision of a 
State, that has in effect a statute or policy or practice 
providing that it not comply with any Department de-
tainer ordering that it temporarily hold an alien in their 
custody so that the alien may be taken into Federal cus-
tody, or transport the alien for transfer to Federal cus-
tody, shall not be eligible to receive— 
(1) any of the funds that would otherwise be al-
located to the State or political subdivision under 
section 241(i) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(i)), the ‘‘Cops on the Beat’’ pro-
gram under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 
10381 et seq.), or the Edward Byrne Memorial Jus-
tice Assistance Grant Program under subpart 1 of 
part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.); 
or 
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(2) any other grant administered by the De-
partment of Justice that is substantially related to 
law enforcement (including enforcement of the immi-
gration laws), immigration, enforcement of the im-
migration laws, or naturalization or administered by 
the Department of Homeland Security that is sub-
stantially related to immigration, the enforcement of 
the immigration laws, or naturalization. 
(c) LIMITATION
ON LIABILITY
FOR COMPLIANCE 
WITH DETAINER.—A State or unit of local government, 
and any law enforcement officer of such State or unit of 
local government, acting in compliance with a detainer 
issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall be 
considered to be acting under color of Federal authority 
for purposes of determining liability, and immunity from 
suit, in any civil action brought by the alien under Federal 
or State law. 
(d) PROBABLE CAUSE.—It is the sense of Congress 
that the Department has probable cause to believe that 
an alien is inadmissible or deportable when it issues a de-
tainer regarding such alien under the standards in place 
on the date of introduction of this Act. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means the Department of Homeland Security. 
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(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Homeland Security. 
(3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-
ing given to such term in section 101(a)(36) of the 
Immigration 
and 
Nationality 
Act 
(8 
U.S.C. 
1101(a)(36)). 
SEC. 3. INFORMATION SHARING REGARDING CRIMINAL 
ALIENS. 
Section 642 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1373) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Immigration and Naturaliza-
tion Service’’ each place it appears and inserting 
‘‘Department of Homeland Security’’; 
(2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘may’’ and in-
serting ‘‘shall’’; 
(3) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘no person or agency may’’ 
and inserting ‘‘a person or agency shall not’’; 
and 
(B) by striking ‘‘doing any of the following 
with respect to information’’ and inserting ‘‘un-
dertaking any of the following law enforcement 
activities’’; 
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(4) by striking paragraphs (1) through (3) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) Notifying the Federal Government regard-
ing the presence of inadmissible and deportable 
aliens who are encountered by law enforcement per-
sonnel of a State or political subdivision of a State. 
‘‘(2) Complying with requests for information 
from Federal law enforcement.’’; and 
(5) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) SANCTUARY POLICIES.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of Federal, State, or local law, a Federal, 
State, or local government entity or official shall not issue 
in the form of resolutions, ordinances, administrative ac-
tions, general or special orders, or departmental policies 
that violate Federal law or restrict a State or political sub-
division of a State from complying with Federal law or 
coordinating with Federal law enforcement. 
‘‘(e) COMPLIANCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State, or a political sub-
division of a State, that has in effect a statute, pol-
icy, or practice that prohibits law enforcement offi-
cers of the State, or of a political subdivision of the 
State, from assisting or cooperating with Federal 
immigration law enforcement in the course of car-
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‘‘(f) STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PROVI-
SION OF INFORMATION ABOUT APPREHENDED ALIENS.— 
‘‘(1) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—In compli-
ance with this section and section 434 of the Per-
sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec-
onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1644), each State, 
and each political subdivision of a State, shall pro-
vide the Secretary of Homeland Security in a timely 
manner with identifying information with respect to 
each alien in the custody of the State, or a political 
subdivision of the State, who is believed to be inad-
missible or deportable. 
‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPLIANCE.—Not 
later than March 1 of each year, the Secretary shall 
determine which States, or the political subdivisions 
of States, are not in compliance with this section 
and submit such determination to Congress. 
‘‘(g) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall reimburse States, and political subdivisions 
of a State, for all reasonable costs, as determined by the 
Secretary, incurred by the State, or the political subdivi-
sion of a State, as a result of providing information under 
subsection (f)(1). 
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‘‘(h) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 
require law enforcement officials of a State, or from polit-
ical subdivisions of a State— 
‘‘(1) to provide the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity with information related to a victim of a 
crime or witness to a criminal offense; or 
‘‘(2) to otherwise report or arrest such a victim 
or witness.’’. 
SEC. 4. ILLEGAL REENTRY. 
Section 276 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1326) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), in the undesignated mat-
ter following paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘not more 
than 2 years,’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than 5 
years,’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘not 
less than 5 years and’’ after ‘‘imprisoned’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘not 
less than 5 years and’’ after ‘‘imprisoned’’; 
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘sen-
tence.’’ and inserting ‘‘sentence;’’; and 
(D) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘not 
less than 5 years and’’ after ‘‘imprisoned for’’. 
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SEC. 5. WORKPLACE PROTECTIONS FOR LAW ENFORCE-
MENT. 
Section 15(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 
U.S.C. 215(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) in the case of a State or unit of local gov-
ernment, to discharge or in any other manner dis-
criminate against any law enforcement officer of 
that State or unit of local government because such 
law enforcement officer has taken any action to com-
ply with a detainer issued by the Secretary of Home-
land Security.’’. 
SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act, any amendment made 
by this Act, or the application of such provision to any 
person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of 
this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and the appli-
cation of such provision to other persons not similarly situ-
ated or to other circumstances, shall not be affected by 
such invalidation. 
Æ 
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