Sanctuary Jurisdiction Event Security Enhancement Act

Key Points

• This bill would block federal security funding for major public events in sanctuary cities and states — places that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The affected support includes risk assessments, bomb detection teams, cyber help, and other DHS-provided security measures.
• The money cut from sanctuary jurisdictions would be redirected to ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations. At least half of the redirected funds must go toward border-related enforcement, with priority given to targeting convicted criminals, gang members, and people on terrorist watch lists.
• A jurisdiction is defined as a 'sanctuary' if it has any law, policy, or practice that restricts sharing immigration status information with federal agencies, or refuses DHS requests to hold individuals for possible deportation.
• Before losing funds, a jurisdiction gets a 30-day warning from DHS. It can avoid the cut by certifying it is in full compliance with federal immigration laws, including requirements to share immigration status information.
• The bill's sponsors argue that sanctuary policies make large events less safe by blocking intelligence sharing and allowing potential threats to go undetected. They cite over 382 encounters with people on terrorist watch lists at U.S. borders between fiscal years 2021 and 2024.