PROTECT Immigration Act of 2025

Key Points

• This bill would end the federal program (known as 287(g)) that allows state and local police to act as immigration agents. Under current law, local law enforcement agencies can sign agreements with ICE to investigate, arrest, and detain people for immigration violations. This bill would take that power away.
• The bill makes clear that only federal immigration officers and authorized Department of Homeland Security employees can check immigration status, investigate, arrest, or detain people for immigration violations. Local and state police would no longer have any role in these activities.
• The bill preserves a few narrow existing exceptions to this rule, including provisions related to certain criminal aliens and antiterrorism enforcement. But outside of those specific carve-outs, immigration enforcement would be exclusively a federal responsibility.
• The bill was introduced by Rep. Quigley with 15 cosponsors, all Democrats, and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Given the current political environment favoring expanded immigration enforcement, this bill faces very steep odds of advancing.