No Illegal Captivity and Extensions Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill would completely ban the Department of Homeland Security from issuing or enforcing immigration detainers, which are requests asking local jails to hold someone beyond their scheduled release so immigration agents can pick them up.
• The bill removes existing legal authority for immigration detainers in two key areas: the general authority to detain noncitizens during removal proceedings and the specific authority to detain people for controlled substance violations.
• The bill also prevents DHS from using agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies to get around the ban. The government could not require local partners to enforce detainers as a condition of cooperation agreements.
• If this became law, local police and sheriffs across the country would no longer hold people in jail on behalf of immigration authorities. Federal immigration enforcement would need to rely on its own agents to locate and arrest people, rather than asking local jails to keep them locked up.