United States 119th Congress Status: In Committee 11 R cosponsors
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S 185 — Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025

Last action — Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced January 22, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Stalled 28% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 11 sponsors

    1 primary, 10 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (11 R).

  • Spreading across states

    Near-identical bills in 1 other state — cross-state momentum.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

In plain language

The bill allows victims of felonies by aliens to sue jurisdictions limiting immigration enforcement cooperation.

This bill enables individuals harmed by felonies committed by undocumented immigrants to take legal action against local and state governments that do not cooperate with federal immigration requests. It establishes conditions under which jurisdictions can be held accountable and specifies protections for those that comply with federal requests.

What this means for you
  • Workers: Workers in jurisdictions with limited cooperation with immigration enforcement may experience changes in legal liabilities related to their compliance with federal requests.
  • Families: If you're a family member of a victim of a felony by an undocumented immigrant, this bill allows you to seek legal action against jurisdictions with restrictive immigration policies.
  • Small Business: {}

Summary

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.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Introduced in Senate

  2. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 10 co-sponsors · 536 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (10)

Not signed on (536)

536 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 536 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety immigration civil-rights

Similar bills in other states

Bills in other jurisdictions that match this one by MEANING — title, summary and subject, compared across every state we track. A strong signal the same policy is moving elsewhere.

Pick a bill from “Similar bills” above and click Compare text to see how its language differs from S 185.

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Frequently asked questions

What does S 185 do?
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.
Who sponsors S 185?
S 185 is sponsored by Tillis, Thomas (Republican), Graham, Lindsey (Republican), Britt, Katie Boyd (Republican), Cruz, Ted (Republican), Lankford, James (Republican), Cassidy, Bill (Republican), Cramer, Kevin (Republican), Marshall, Roger (Republican), Sheehy, Tim (Republican), Rounds, Mike (Republican), and Budd, Ted (Republican).
What is the current status of S 185?
This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced January 22, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track S 185?
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