Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2021
Bill: S.59 | Sponsor: Sen. Tillis, Thomas (R-NC)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2021
This bill provides a private right of action against state and local jurisdictions with certain policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts, and contains additional provisions related to such jurisdictions. Currently, such cooperation is generally not required.
An individual (or certain relatives of such an individual) who is the victim of any felony for which an alien has been arrested, convicted, or sentenced to a prison term of at least one year may sue a state or local jurisdiction if the jurisdiction failed to comply with (1) certain Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requests related to arresting and detaining aliens, and (2) a DHS request to detain the alien in question or provide a notification about the release of the alien. A jurisdiction that accepts certain federal grants may not assert immunity in such a civil action.
A jurisdiction (or employee of a jurisdiction) that complies with certain DHS detainer requests shall be deemed to be acting as an agent of DHS. A complying jurisdiction or employee of the jurisdiction shall not be liable in any lawsuit relating to compliance with such requests. In a lawsuit against an employee of the jurisdiction, the United States shall be substituted in as the defendant, and remedies shall be limited to provisions for bringing tort claims against the federal government.

To provide a civil remedy for individuals harmed by sanctuary 
             jurisdiction policies, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Justice for Victims of Sanctuary 
Cities Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Sanctuary jurisdiction.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), the term ``sanctuary jurisdiction'' means any 
                State or political subdivision of a State that has in 
                effect a statute, ordinance, policy, or practice that 
                prohibits or restricts any government entity or 
                official from--
                            (i) sending, receiving, maintaining, or 
                        exchanging with any Federal, State, or local 
                        government entity information regarding the 
                        citizenship or immigration status of any alien; 
                        or
                            (ii) complying with a request lawfully made 
                        by the Department of Homeland Security under 
                        section 236 or 287 of the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226 and 1357) to 
                        comply with a detainer for, or notify about the 
                        release of, an alien.
                    (B) Exception.--A State or political subdivision of 
                a State shall not be deemed a sanctuary jurisdiction 
                based solely on having a policy whereby its officials 
                will not share information regarding, or comply with a 
                request made by the Department of Homeland Security 
                under section 236 or 287 of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226 and 1357) to comply with 
                a detainer regarding, an alien who comes forward as a 
                victim or a witness to a criminal offense.
            (2) Sanctuary policy.--The term ``sanctuary policy'' means 
        a statute, ordinance, policy, or practice referred to in 
        paragraph (1)(A).
            (3) Sanctuary-related civil action.--The term ``sanctuary-
        related civil action'' means a civil action brought against a 
        sanctuary jurisdiction by an individual (or the estate, 
        survivors, or heirs of an individual) who--
                    (A) is injured or harmed by an alien who benefitted 
                from a sanctuary policy of the sanctuary jurisdiction; 
                and
                    (B) would not have been so injured or harmed but 
                for the alien receiving the benefit of such sanctuary 
                policy.

SEC. 3. CIVIL ACTION FOR HARM BY AN ALIEN THAT BENEFITTED FROM A 
              SANCTUARY POLICY.

    (a) Private Right of Action.--
            (1) Cause of action.--Any individual, or a spouse, parent, 
        or child of such individual (if the individual is deceased or 
        permanently incapacitated), who is the victim of a murder, 
        rape, or any felony (as defined by the State) for which an 
        alien (as defined in section 101(a)(3) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(3))) has been arrested, 
        convicted, or sentenced to a term of imprisonment of at least 1 
        year, may bring an action for compensatory damages against a 
        State or a political subdivision of a State in the appropriate 
        Federal or State court if the State or political subdivision 
        failed to comply with--
                    (A) a request with respect to an alien that was 
                lawfully made by the Department of Homeland Security 
                under section 236 or 287 of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226 and 1357); and
                    (B) a detainer for, or notify about the release of, 
                the alien.
            (2) Statute of limitations.--An action brought under this 
        subsection may not be brought later than 10 years after the 
        occurrence of the crime, or death of a person as a result of 
        such crime, whichever occurs later.
            (3) Attorney's fee and other costs.--In any action or 
        proceeding under this subsection the court shall allow a 
        prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the 
        costs, and include expert fees as part of the attorney's fee.
    (b) Waiver of Immunity.--
            (1) In general.--Any State or political subdivision of a 
        State that accepts a grant described in paragraph (2) from the 
        Federal Government shall agree, as a condition of receiving 
        such grant, to waive any immunity of such State or political 
        subdivision relating to a sanctuary-related civil action.
            (2) Grants described.--The grants described in this 
        paragraph are--
                    (A) a grant for public works and economic 
                development under section 201(a) of the Public Works 
                and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 
                3141(a));
                    (B) a grant for planning and administrative 
                expenses under section 203(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
                3143(a));
                    (C) a supplemental grant under section 205(b) of 
                such Act (42 U.S.C. 3145(b));
                    (D) a grant for training, research, and technical 
                assistance under section 207(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
                3147(a)); and
                    (E) except as provided in paragraph (3), a 
                community development block grant made pursuant to 
                title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 
                1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.).
            (3) Exception.--Grants described in paragraph (2)(E) shall 
        not include any disaster relief grants to address the damage in 
        an area for which the President has declared a disaster under 
        title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
        Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.).

SEC. 4. ENSURING COOPERATION BETWEEN FEDERAL AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 
              OFFICERS TO SAFEGUARD OUR COMMUNITIES.

    (a) Authority To Cooperate With Federal Officials.--A State, a 
political subdivision of a State, or an officer, employee, or agent of 
such State or political subdivision that complies with a detainer 
issued by the Department of Homeland Security under section 236 or 287 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226 and 1357)--
            (1) shall be deemed to be acting as an agent of the 
        Department of Homeland Security; and
            (2) shall comply with section 287(d) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(d)) and section 287.5(d) of 
        title 8, Code of Federal Regulations.
    (b) Legal Proceedings.--In any legal proceeding brought against a 
State, a political subdivision of State, or an officer, employee, or 
agent of such State or political subdivision challenging the legality 
of the seizure or detention of an individual pursuant to a detainer 
issued by the Department of Homeland Security under section 236 or 287 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226 and 1357)--
            (1) the State or political subdivision of a State shall not 
        be liable for any action taken in accordance with the detainer; 
        and
            (2) if the actions of the officer, employee, or agent of 
        the State or political subdivision were taken in accordance 
        with the detainer--
                    (A) the officer, employee, or agent shall be 
                deemed--
                            (i) to be an employee of the Federal 
                        Government and an investigative or law 
                        enforcement officer; and
                            (ii) to have been acting within the scope 
                        of his or her employment under section 1346(b) 
                        of title 28, United States Code, and chapter 
                        171 of such title;
                    (B) section 1346(b) of title 28, United States 
                Code, shall provide the exclusive remedy for the 
                plaintiff; and
                    (C) the United States shall be substituted as 
                defendant in the proceeding.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed 
to provide immunity to any person who knowingly violates the civil or 
constitutional rights of an individual.
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