Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025

Key Points

• This bill introduced by Mr. Edwards would allow victims of serious crimes, such as murder or rape, to sue a city or state if the person who committed the crime was an undocumented immigrant who benefited from 'sanctuary' policies. This applies if the local government failed to follow federal requests to hold the person or notify officials of their release.
• A city or state is defined as a 'sanctuary jurisdiction' if it has rules that stop local police from sharing immigration information with the federal government or if it refuses to comply with lawful requests from the Department of Homeland Security to keep someone in custody.
• To make these lawsuits possible, any local government that accepts federal grants for public works, economic development, or community building must agree to give up their legal immunity. This means they can be held financially responsible in court if a victim wins a case against them.
• The bill also protects local police officers who choose to help federal immigration agents. If an officer follows a federal request to hold someone, they will be treated like a federal employee, and the U.S. government will take over the legal defense if that officer is sued.
• Victims or their families would have up to 10 years after a crime occurs to file a lawsuit. If they win, the local government would be required to pay for the victim's losses as well as their legal fees and costs for expert witnesses.