Title: HELD Act
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Help Ensure Legal Detainers Act or the HELD Act
This bill prohibits the use of federal funds by a state or local subdivision that has in effect a law, policy, or procedure that prevents or impedes (1) a timely response to a request by the Department of Homeland Security for information about an alien in custody, including the alien's estimated release date; or (2) compliance with a detainer request.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 438 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 438

  To deny Federal funding to any State or political subdivision of a 
State that has in effect any law, policy, or procedure that prevents or 
  impedes a State or local law enforcement official from maintaining 
 custody of an alien pursuant to an immigration detainer issued by the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 10, 2019

    Mr. Calvert (for himself, Mr. Cook, and Mr. Brooks of Alabama) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To deny Federal funding to any State or political subdivision of a 
State that has in effect any law, policy, or procedure that prevents or 
  impedes a State or local law enforcement official from maintaining 
 custody of an alien pursuant to an immigration detainer issued by the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security, 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--
            (1) ``Help Ensure Legal Detainers Act''; or
            (2) ``HELD Act''.

SEC. 2. DENIAL OF FEDERAL FUNDING TO STATES AND UNITS OF LOCAL 
              GOVERNMENT THAT FAIL TO RESPOND TO IMMIGRATION DETAINERS.

    (a) In General.--With respect to fiscal years beginning after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, no Federal funds may be used to 
assist any project or activity carried out by a State, or a political 
subdivision of a State, described in subsection (b).
    (b) States and Political Subdivisions Described.--A State, or 
political subdivision of a State, described in this subsection is any 
State, or political subdivision of a State, that has in effect any law, 
policy, or procedure that prevents or impedes State or local law 
enforcement officials from--
            (1) timely responding to an immigration notice issued by 
        the Secretary of Homeland Security that requests information 
        about an alien in State or local custody, including the alien's 
        estimated release date, in order that the Secretary may arrange 
        to assume custody of the alien upon such release; or
            (2) maintaining custody of an alien for a period of up to 
        48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) pursuant 
        to an immigration detainer issued by the Secretary of Homeland 
        Security in order that the alien can be transferred to the 
        custody of such Secretary to determine whether the alien should 
        be detained, placed in removal proceedings, released, or 
        removed.
    (c) Construction.--A political subdivision of a State that is not 
ineligible under subsection (a) to receive Federal funds, but is part 
of a State or another unit of government that is so ineligible, may 
submit, notwithstanding any other provision of law, an application for 
direct receipt of any funds that the political subdivision otherwise 
only would receive through subgrant, allocation, or allotment made by 
the ineligible State or government unit.
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