Congress·In Committee·H.R. 7612

End Sanctuary Cities Act of 2026

Congress Proposes Prison Time for Local Officials Who Block Immigration Release Notices

5 months ago·View on Congress.gov

Part of: Graham Proposes Prison Time for Local Officials Defying Immigration Orders

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Key Points

This bill would make it a federal crime for state or local officials to stop their departments from sharing information with federal immigration agents. Specifically, it targets officials who prevent staff from giving notice when a non-citizen is about to be released from jail.
Local governments would be required to give federal authorities at least 48 hours' notice before releasing a person who has been charged with or convicted of a crime. This is intended to give immigration agents time to take custody of the individual if they choose to do so.
The penalties for officials who block this cooperation are very strict. If an official prevents the sharing of information and the person being released has a history of serious crimes like murder or sexual assault, the official could face between 10 and 25 years in prison.
For cases involving other violent felonies, the official could face 5 to 10 years in prison. Even for less serious crimes, an official who refuses to cooperate could be sentenced to up to six months in jail and forced to pay fines.
This policy aims to end 'sanctuary' practices where local cities or states refuse to help federal agents track people who are in the country illegally and have been arrested for crimes. It shifts the legal risk directly onto the high-ranking leaders who create those local rules.

ImmigrationCriminal Justice

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

This bill targets "criminal aliens" — non-citizens who have been charged with or convicted of any crime. By requiring local jails to notify federal immigration authorities at least 48 hours before releasing these individuals, it makes it much more likely that undocumented people will be picked up by immigration agents upon release from local custody, increasing the risk of detention and deportation.

-3

ImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

-3

ImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

State Impacts

StateScoreImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

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

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Feb 20, 2026House

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Feb 20, 2026

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.

News

No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

End Sanctuary Cities Act of 2026

Bill NumberHR 7612

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(2)

R: 2

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.