House Republicans are advancing sweeping legislation aimed at dismantling sanctuary city policies and giving victims of crimes by illegal immigrants a way to sue the municipalities and public officials that released offenders from custody. The measure is being positioned for a House vote after the election, as reported by Just The News.

The Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act cleared the House Judiciary Committee with little fanfare last month. It would impose a sweeping crackdown on states and cities that refuse to transfer illegal immigrants under federal detainers or release migrants already in their custody.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Just the News that the bill’s most poignant weapon creates a right of private action. Victims and victims’ families could use that provision to sue municipalities and officials responsible for releasing violent offenders.

The provision would strip some of the civil immunity currently enjoyed by state and local officials. In some jurisdictions, those officials are protected by “absolute immunity,” which the source described as the broadest form of the doctrine.

Jordan explained how the proposed legal remedy would work for people harmed after local political leaders blocked cooperation with federal authorities.

“It allows people who've been harmed, where local political leaders tell the local law enforcement they can't work with federal law enforcement, detainers aren't honored … to go take that city, take that state to court, and say, 'look, this was ridiculous. What happened and was so wrong, so tragic,'" Jordan explained.

Jordan said Republicans had worked extensively on the legislation and were now focused on moving it through the House during the lame duck period.

"So we got a good deal that we worked long and hard on. We just got to try to get it passed in the lame duck [period]," he added.

The lawsuit provision is only one part of the Republican proposal. The legislation also reasserts federal supremacy over state and local laws that restrict cooperation with immigration enforcement through the Department of Homeland Security.

State and local authorities would be required to honor DHS detainers for illegal immigrants arrested for criminal or motor vehicle offenses who are subject to deportation. That requirement directly targets jurisdictions that currently refuse to cooperate with those federal requests.

The bill would also withhold some federal funding from sanctuary states and municipalities that do not comply. The withheld money would then be reallocated to jurisdictions that follow the federal requirements.

Together, the provisions would confront sanctuary governments through lawsuits, detainer requirements and federal funding consequences. Rather than relying on a single enforcement mechanism, the bill would target the policies and the officials implementing them.

Jordan’s push comes amid claims that the number of cases involving released aliens who later cause harm or death continues to grow. The available data is conflicting, but individual cases have put a human face on the broader sanctuary policy debate and increased public interest.

Last month, Homeland Security highlighted a case involving an illegal immigrant from India who was released during the Biden years. The department said the man stalked and killed a woman in California.

DHS confirmed last month that Rohit Rohit was in the country illegally. He is accused of stalking Shalini Thakur, 38, for months before killing her in a Panera Bread parking lot in Sacramento.

"Sanctuary politicians must put an end to reckless policies that play Russian roulette with American lives," the DHS said.

The proposal would give victims and their families a new avenue to challenge sanctuary jurisdictions in court while placing funding and cooperation requirements on state and local governments. Republicans are now seeking to secure its passage during the lame duck period.

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