# Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025 - Plain Language Summary

## What This Bill Does

This bill creates a legal right for crime victims to sue states and cities that have "sanctuary" policies—policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Specifically, it allows victims (or their families) of serious crimes committed by undocumented immigrants to file civil lawsuits for damages against sanctuary jurisdictions if those jurisdictions refused to comply with federal immigration detention requests or failed to notify federal authorities about an immigrant's release.

## Who Is Affected

**Potential plaintiffs (those who can sue):** Victims of murder, rape, or felonies committed by immigrants who have been arrested or convicted, plus their families (spouses, parents, children).

**Defendants (those being sued):** States and cities with sanctuary policies that don't cooperate with federal immigration enforcement requests.

**Condition on federal funding:** States and cities that accept certain federal grants for economic development, planning, and community development would have to waive their legal immunity to these lawsuits as a condition of receiving that funding.

## Key Provisions

- Victims have **10 years** from the crime (or death resulting from it) to file a lawsuit
- Successful plaintiffs can recover **attorney's fees and expert costs**
- The bill includes an exception: jurisdictions won't be considered "sanctuary" if they simply refuse to share information about immigrants who are crime victims or witnesses
- The bill does not apply to federal disaster relief grants

Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025

Edwards, Chuck

Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025This bill provides a private right of action against state and local jurisdictions with certain policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts, and contains additional provisions related to such jurisdictions. Currently, such cooperation is generally not required.An individual (or certain relatives of such an individual) who is the victim of any felony for which an alien has been arrested, convicted, or sentenced to a prison term of at least one year may sue a state or local jurisdiction if the jurisdiction failed to comply with (1) certain Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requests related to arresting and detaining aliens, and (2) a DHS request to detain the alien in question or provide a notification about the release of the alien. A jurisdiction that accepts certain federal grants may not assert immunity in such a civil action.A jurisdiction (or employee of a jurisdiction) that complies with certain DHS detainer requests shall be deemed to be acting as an agent of DHS. A complying jurisdiction or employee of the jurisdiction shall not be liable in any lawsuit relating to compliance with such requests. In a lawsuit against an employee of the jurisdiction, the United States shall be substituted in as the defendant, and remedies shall be limited to provisions for bringing tort claims against the federal government.