Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2059 To provide a civil remedy for individuals harmed by sanctuary jurisdiction policies, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 9, 2019 Mr. TILLIS (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide a civil remedy for individuals harmed by sanctuary jurisdiction policies, 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 the ‘‘Justice for Victims 4 of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) SANCTUARY JURISDICTION.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 9 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘sanctuary juris- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2059.IS S2059 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2059 IS diction’’ means any State or political subdivi- 1 sion of a State that has in effect a statute, ordi- 2 nance, policy, or practice that prohibits or re- 3 stricts any government entity or official from— 4 (i) sending, receiving, maintaining, or 5 exchanging with any Federal, State, or 6 local government entity information re- 7 garding the citizenship or immigration sta- 8 tus of any alien; or 9 (ii) complying with a request lawfully 10 made by the Department of Homeland Se- 11 curity under section 236 or 287 of the Im- 12 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 13 1226 and 1357) to comply with a detainer 14 for, or notify about the release of, an alien. 15 (B) EXCEPTION.—A State or political sub- 16 division of a State shall not be deemed a sanc- 17 tuary jurisdiction based solely on having a pol- 18 icy whereby its officials will not share informa- 19 tion regarding, or comply with a request made 20 by the Department of Homeland Security under 21 section 236 or 287 of the Immigration and Na- 22 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226 and 1357) to com- 23 ply with a detainer regarding, an alien who 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2059.IS S2059 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2059 IS comes forward as a victim or a witness to a 1 criminal offense. 2 (2) SANCTUARY POLICY.—The term ‘‘sanctuary 3 policy’’ means a statute, ordinance, policy, or prac- 4 tice referred to in paragraph (1)(A). 5 (3) SANCTUARY-RELATED CIVIL ACTION.—The 6 term ‘‘sanctuary-related civil action’’ means a civil 7 action brought against a sanctuary jurisdiction by 8 an individual (or the estate, survivors, or heirs of an 9 individual) who— 10 (A) is injured or harmed by an alien who 11 benefitted from a sanctuary policy of the sanc- 12 tuary jurisdiction; and 13 (B) would not have been so injured or 14 harmed but for the alien receiving the benefit of 15 such sanctuary policy. 16 SEC. 3. CIVIL ACTION FOR HARM BY AN ALIEN THAT BENE- 17 FITTED FROM A SANCTUARY POLICY. 18 (a) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 19 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any individual, or a 20 spouse, parent, or child of such individual (if the in- 21 dividual is deceased or permanently incapacitated), 22 who is the victim of a murder, rape, or any felony 23 (as defined by the State) for which an alien (as de- 24 fined in section 101(a)(3) of the Immigration and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2059.IS S2059 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2059 IS Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(3))) has been ar- 1 rested, convicted, or sentenced to a term of impris- 2 onment of at least 1 year, may bring an action for 3 compensatory damages against a State or a political 4 subdivision of a State in the appropriate Federal or 5 State court if the State or political subdivision failed 6 to comply with— 7 (A) a request with respect to an alien that 8 was lawfully made by the Department of Home- 9 land Security under section 236 or 287 of the 10 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 11 1226 and 1357); and 12 (B) a detainer for, or notify about the re- 13 lease of, the alien. 14 (2) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—An action 15 brought under this subsection may not be brought 16 later than 10 years after the occurrence of the 17 crime, or death of a person as a result of such 18 crime, whichever occurs later. 19 (3) ATTORNEY’S FEE AND OTHER COSTS.—In 20 any action or proceeding under this subsection the 21 court shall allow a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable 22 attorney’s fee as part of the costs, and include ex- 23 pert fees as part of the attorney’s fee. 24 (b) WAIVER OF IMMUNITY.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2059.IS S2059 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2059 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Any State or political sub- 1 division of a State that accepts a grant described in 2 paragraph (2) from the Federal Government shall 3 agree, as a condition of receiving such grant, to 4 waive any immunity of such State or political sub- 5 division relating to a sanctuary-related civil action. 6 (2) GRANTS DESCRIBED.—The grants described 7 in this paragraph are— 8 (A) a grant for public works and economic 9 development under section 201(a) of the Public 10 Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 11 (42 U.S.C. 3141(a)); 12 (B) a grant for planning and administra- 13 tive expenses under section 203(a) of such Act 14 (42 U.S.C. 3143(a)); 15 (C) a supplemental grant under section 16 205(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3145(b)); 17 (D) a grant for training, research, and 18 technical assistance under section 207(a) of 19 such Act (42 U.S.C. 3147(a)); and 20 (E) except as provided in paragraph (3), a 21 community development block grant made pur- 22 suant to title I of the Housing and Community 23 Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et 24 seq.). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2059.IS S2059 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2059 IS (3) EXCEPTION.—Grants described in para- 1 graph (2)(E) shall not include any disaster relief 2 grants to address the damage in an area for which 3 the President has declared a disaster under title IV 4 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- 5 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.). 6 SEC. 4. ENSURING COOPERATION BETWEEN FEDERAL AND 7 LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO 8 SAFEGUARD OUR COMMUNITIES. 9 (a) AUTHORITY TO COOPERATE WITH FEDERAL OF- 10 FICIALS.—A State, a political subdivision of a State, or 11 an officer, employee, or agent of such State or political 12 subdivision that complies with a detainer issued by the De- 13 partment of Homeland Security under section 236 or 287 14 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226 15 and 1357)— 16 (1) shall be deemed to be acting as an agent of 17 the Department of Homeland Security; and 18 (2) shall comply with section 287(d) of the Im- 19 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(d)) 20 and section 287.5(d) of title 8, Code of Federal Reg- 21 ulations. 22 (b) LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.—In any legal proceeding 23 brought against a State, a political subdivision of State, 24 or an officer, employee, or agent of such State or political 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2059.IS S2059 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2059 IS subdivision challenging the legality of the seizure or deten- 1 tion of an individual pursuant to a detainer issued by the 2 Department of Homeland Security under section 236 or 3 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 4 1226 and 1357)— 5 (1) the State or political subdivision of a State 6 shall not be liable for any action taken in accordance 7 with the detainer; and 8 (2) if the actions of the officer, employee, or 9 agent of the State or political subdivision were taken 10 in accordance with the detainer— 11 (A) the officer, employee, or agent shall be 12 deemed— 13 (i) to be an employee of the Federal 14 Government and an investigative or law 15 enforcement officer; and 16 (ii) to have been acting within the 17 scope of his or her employment under sec- 18 tion 1346(b) of title 28, United States 19 Code, and chapter 171 of such title; 20 (B) section 1346(b) of title 28, United 21 States Code, shall provide the exclusive remedy 22 for the plaintiff; and 23 (C) the United States shall be substituted 24 as defendant in the proceeding. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2059.IS S2059 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2059 IS (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 1 tion may be construed to provide immunity to any person 2 who knowingly violates the civil or constitutional rights of 3 an individual. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2059.IS S2059 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS