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

## What This Bill Does

This bill creates a new legal right allowing crime victims to sue states and cities that have "sanctuary" policies—rules that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Specifically, if someone is harmed by a non-citizen who benefited from a sanctuary policy, they could sue the jurisdiction for compensatory damages. The bill defines sanctuary jurisdictions as those that refuse to share immigration status information with federal authorities or comply with federal detention requests (with an exception for crime victims and witnesses).

## Who Is Affected

**Crime victims and their families** would gain the ability to file lawsuits against sanctuary jurisdictions, with a 10-year window to do so. **States and cities with sanctuary policies** would face potential financial liability and would need to waive legal immunity if they accept certain federal grants (like community development block grants or economic development funding). **Non-citizens** could be indirectly affected if sanctuary policies are weakened or eliminated due to liability concerns. The bill includes protections for crime victims and witnesses who come forward, exempting them from the sanctuary policy restrictions.

## Key Provisions

- Victims of murder, rape, or felonies can sue if the perpetrator was a non-citizen who benefited from sanctuary policies
- Prevailing plaintiffs can recover attorney's fees and expert costs
- States accepting federal grants must waive immunity from these lawsuits (with exceptions for disaster relief)
- The bill allows local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration officials without legal penalty

Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025

Tillis, Thomas

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.