Congress·In Committee·S. 185

Congress Proposes Allowing Crime Victims to Sue Sanctuary Cities for Damages

Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025

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

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Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

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

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Key Points

This bill allows victims of serious crimes, such as murder or rape, to sue local governments if the crime was committed by a non-citizen who was released because of a 'sanctuary' policy. To win a lawsuit, the victim or their family must show that the harm would not have happened if the city had followed federal requests to keep the person in custody.
Local governments that accept federal grants for public works, economic development, or community projects would automatically lose their legal immunity against these lawsuits. This means cities might have to choose between keeping their sanctuary policies and receiving certain types of federal funding.
The bill provides legal protection for local police officers who choose to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. If an officer follows a federal request to hold a person, they are treated as a federal employee, and the U.S. government would take over their legal defense if they are sued for that action.
Victims or their families have up to 10 years to file a lawsuit after a crime occurs or after a death resulting from a crime. If the victim wins the case, the local government is required to pay for the victim's damages as well as their lawyer fees and other legal costs.

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

2 milestones2 actions

Jan 22, 2025Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Jan 22, 2025

Introduced in Senate

Related News

1 article

Breitbart·about 1 year ago

Sen. Thom Tillis Files Bill to Allow Victims of Migrant Crime to Sue Sanctuary Cities

This bill creates a private right of action for victims of serious felonies to sue sanctuary jurisdictions. It also provides legal defense for local police who cooperate with federal immigration authorities, treating them as federal employees for the purpose of legal liability.

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