Congress·In Committee·H.R. 611

New Bill Proposes Allowing Crime Victims to Sue Sanctuary Cities for Not Cooperating With Immigration Officials

Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025

about 1 year ago·View on Congress.gov

Part of: House GOP Pushes 'No Sanctuary Cities Act' to Tie Funding to Immigration Policy

⏸

Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

↔Companion bill: Congress Proposes Allowing Crime Victims to Sue Sanctuary Cities for Damages

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

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.

ImmigrationCriminal JusticeCivil Rights

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Who is affectedScoreImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

State Impacts

StateScoreImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Political Response

Milestones

3 milestones3 actions

Jan 22, 2025House

Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.

Jan 22, 2025House

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Jan 22, 2025

Introduced in House

Related News

2 articles

Carolina Journal·about 1 year ago

Tillis, Budd introduce 'Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act'

North Carolina Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd introduced the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act, aiming to combat sanctuary policies and provide justice for victims harmed by these jurisdictions. Rep. Chuck Edwards plans to introduce a companion bill in the House.

CR=

Courthouse News Service·10 months ago

North Carolina moves to hold sanctuary cities liable for crimes by undocumented residents

North Carolina lawmakers advanced legislation that targets sanctuary jurisdictions, proposing to make cities and counties legally responsible for crimes committed by undocumented individuals. The bill's wording on waiving immunity from civil liability has been criticized as vague by some representatives.