This bill allows states to help the federal government remove immigrants who have committed crimes. Specifically, it lets states hire their own lawyers to represent the Department of Homeland Security in immigration court cases involving criminal aliens. A state attorney working under this program would handle removal cases for immigrants in state prisons or those charged with crimes under state law, but they'd be working under federal supervision and following federal rules—they wouldn't make their own decisions about who to deport.

The bill also significantly expands what counts as an "aggravated felony" in immigration law. Currently, only certain serious crimes automatically trigger deportation. This bill broadens that list to include many more offenses—like drug crimes involving substances classified as controlled under state law (even if not federal law), firearms trafficking, various violent crimes, burglary and theft, war crimes, torture, genocide, and essentially any felony or crime punishable by more than one year in prison. The expanded definition applies to crimes committed before, during, or after the bill becomes law.

The practical effect is that immigrants convicted of a much wider range of crimes would become deportable, and states could take on more of the legal work to make deportations happen. States would pay for their own attorneys to do this work, which could reduce the federal government's costs.