Diamond and Silk Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3218 To prohibit certain Federal funds from being made available to sanctuary jurisdictions, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 12, 2019 Mr. KING of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Over- sight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prohibit certain Federal funds from being made available to sanctuary jurisdictions, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as— 4 (1) the ‘‘End Sanctuaries and Help Our Amer- 5 ican Homeless and Veterans Act’’; or 6 (2) the ‘‘Diamond and Silk Act’’. 7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 8 The Congress finds as follows: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3218.IH H3218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3218 IH (1) According to United States law, found at 1 section 274 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 2 (8 U.S.C. 1324), it is illegal to bring or harbor ille- 3 gal immigrants in our Nation. 4 (2) In contravention of this law, cities, counties, 5 parishes, other political subdivisions, and States in 6 our Nation have adopted policies specifically oriented 7 to bring in, harbor, and even attract illegal aliens 8 into their jurisdictions. 9 (3) Although the Federal Government, and spe- 10 cifically the Congress of the United States, is con- 11 stitutionally charged with establishing ‘‘an uniform 12 Rule of Naturalization’’, in certain cases States and 13 political subdivisions, including cities, have been as- 14 suming the role of immigration authorities, clearly in 15 violation of both the Constitution and Federal stat- 16 ute. 17 (4) Historically, the Federal Government has 18 proven lackadaisical about enforcing its sole jurisdic- 19 tion in the serious matter of illegal immigration and 20 taking action against those jurisdictions that know- 21 ingly or recklessly disregard the Rule of Law to con- 22 ceal, harbor, attempt to, or actually shield from de- 23 tection, such illegal aliens, or that prohibit their offi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3218.IH H3218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3218 IH cers from gathering information for, or cooperating 1 with, Federal officials. 2 (5) In these wanton acts, such jurisdictions 3 break the law that its citizens are held to, violate the 4 trust of the taxpayers who are already charged with 5 a $22 trillion dollar Government debt that grows 6 daily, and—perhaps worst—subject those they 7 should protect and serve to death by deliberate mur- 8 derous acts and traffic accidents by those who 9 should not be in the country at all. 10 (6) In this way, such jurisdictions aid and abet 11 American deaths that are 100 percent preventable. 12 (7) Such tragic, preventable American deaths 13 have been suffered by ‘‘Angel Families’’ who have 14 lost spouses, sons, daughters, grandchildren, par- 15 ents, and grandparents at the hands of illegal aliens. 16 (8) These families are left to suffer deaths that 17 should not have been, according to the law of the 18 land, while too often complicit public officials, cities, 19 States, and the Federal Government are not held ac- 20 countable. 21 (9) Meanwhile, our Nation’s American homeless 22 and veterans are too often left out in the cold, with- 23 out the basic necessities and care that they need and 24 deserve as citizens of this country. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3218.IH H3218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3218 IH (10) Our American homeless and veterans must 1 be prioritized and cared for by law and in fact. 2 (11) Jurisdictions’ responsibilities must be 3 taken seriously, and never aid and abet, violations of 4 immigration law. 5 (12) These are dual injustices that the law, as 6 is, dictates must end. 7 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF SANCTUARY JURISDICTIONS. 8 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘sanc- 9 tuary jurisdiction’’ means a State or any political subdivi- 10 sion of a State that the Attorney General determines has 11 in effect a statute, ordinance, policy, or practice that pro- 12 hibits or in any way restricts, a Federal, State, or local 13 government entity, official, or other personnel from— 14 (1) complying with the immigration laws (as de- 15 fined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and 16 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))), or from as- 17 sisting or cooperating with Federal law enforcement 18 entities, officials, or other personnel regarding the 19 enforcement of these laws; or 20 (2) undertaking any of the following law en- 21 forcement activities as they relate to information re- 22 garding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful 23 or unlawful, the inadmissibility or deportability, or 24 the custody status, of any individual: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3218.IH H3218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3218 IH (A) Making inquiries to any individual in 1 order to obtain such information regarding such 2 individual or any other individuals. 3 (B) Notifying the Federal Government re- 4 garding the presence of individuals who are en- 5 countered by law enforcement officials or other 6 personnel of a State or political subdivision of 7 a State. 8 (C) Complying with requests for such in- 9 formation from Federal law enforcement enti- 10 ties, officials, or other personnel. 11 (D) Complying with detainers. 12 (b) INELIGIBILITY OF SANCTUARY JURISDICTIONS 13 FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.— 14 (1) STATES.—No sanctuary jurisdiction that is 15 a State may be allocated or receive any Federal fi- 16 nancial assistance (as such term is defined in section 17 7501(a)(5) of title 31, United States Code). 18 (2) POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—No sanctuary 19 jurisdiction that is a political subdivision of a State 20 may be allocated or receive any funds made available 21 to the Attorney General, including those made avail- 22 able from the account ‘‘Department of Justice—Of- 23 fice of Justice Programs—State and Local Law En- 24 forcement Assistance’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3218.IH H3218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3218 IH (3) SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.—Each State and 1 political subdivision of a State shall, as a condition 2 on receipt of any Federal financial assistance (as 3 such term is defined in section 7501(a)(5) of title 4 31, United States Code), waive the sovereign immu- 5 nity of the State or political subdivision with respect 6 to actions authorized under section 4. 7 (4) REALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Notwith- 8 standing any other provision of law, any funds not 9 allocated to a sanctuary jurisdiction from the ac- 10 count ‘‘Department of Justice—Office of Justice 11 Programs—State and Local Law Enforcement As- 12 sistance’’ pursuant to this subsection shall be made 13 available for activities carried out under the Justice 14 and Mental Health Collaboration Program of the Of- 15 fice of Justice Programs of the Department of Jus- 16 tice, to reduce homelessness in order to improve out- 17 comes for individuals with mental illnesses or co-oc- 18 curring mental health and substance abuse disorders 19 who encounter the justice system, thereby reducing 20 mental health disorders and homelessness among 21 our citizens. 22 SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 23 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any individual, or a spouse, 24 parent, or child of that individual (if the individual is de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3218.IH H3218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3218 IH ceased), who is the victim of a murder, rape, or any felony, 1 as defined by the State, for which an alien (as defined 2 in section 101(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality 3 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(3))) has been convicted and sen- 4 tenced to a term of imprisonment of at least 1 year, may 5 bring an action against a State or political subdivision of 6 a State in the appropriate Federal or State court— 7 (1) if the State or political subdivision released 8 the alien from custody prior to the commission of 9 such crime, and had knowledge that the alien was 10 unlawfully present in the United States; or 11 (2) the crime was a consequence of the State or 12 political subdivision declining to honor a detainer or 13 warrant issued pursuant to section 287(d)(1) of the 14 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 15 1357(d)(1)). 16 (b) APPLICATION.—Subject to subsection (c), sub- 17 section (a) shall apply without regard to whether the crime 18 was committed before, on, or after the date of the enact- 19 ment of this Act. 20 (c) LIMITATION ON BRINGING ACTION.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—An action brought under 22 this section may not be brought later than 10 years 23 following the occurrence of the crime, or death of a 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3218.IH H3218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3218 IH person as a result of such crime, whichever occurs 1 later. 2 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 3 apply to an action brought under this section based 4 on a crime committed before the date of the enact- 5 ment of this Act. 6 (d) ATTORNEY’S FEES AND OTHER COSTS.—In any 7 action or proceeding under this section the court shall 8 allow a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorneys’ fee as 9 part of the costs, and include expert fees as part of the 10 attorneys’ fee. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3218.IH H3218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS