Sanctuary City Elimination Act

The "Sanctuary City Elimination Act" seeks to ensure state and local law enforcement agencies cooperate with federal officials on immigration matters. It explicitly states that a State or political subdivision complying with a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detainer will be considered an agent of DHS , possessing the same authority as federal officers for actions taken to comply with the detainer. This provision aims to standardize and enforce cooperation between different levels of government regarding individuals illegally present in the United States. The bill provides significant legal protections for state and local entities that comply with DHS detainers. In any legal challenge to a seizure or detention based on a detainer, no liability will lie against the complying state or subdivision, and the United States government will be substituted as the defendant for actions taken by officers. A sanctuary jurisdiction is defined as any state or local entity that prohibits or restricts its officials from sharing immigration status information with federal agencies or from complying with lawful DHS detainer requests, with an exception for policies protecting crime victims or witnesses. A primary mechanism of this bill is to make defined sanctuary jurisdictions ineligible for numerous federal funding programs . These include grants for education, environmental protection, economic development, and community development. The bill specifies that if a sanctuary jurisdiction releases an alien who subsequently commits a criminal offense in another state, the attorney general of that affected state can sue to compel the withholding of federal funds from the sanctuary jurisdiction. This creates a strong financial incentive for states and localities to abandon sanctuary policies and cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.