House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has scheduled a vote on H.R. 3003, the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, for later this week. The House Rules Committee will hold a hearing on the legislation on Tuesday afternoon. Majority Leader McCarthy has also scheduled a vote on H.R. 3004, a watered down version of Kate's Law.
The No Sanctuary for Criminals Act was introduced last week by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and was cosponsored by Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa), Pete Sessions (R-Texas), and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). The legislation includes sections 114 and 115 of the Davis-Oliver Act, which was passed by the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month. It also includes Sarah's Law and Grant's Law, which were also included in the Davis-Oliver Act.
H.R. 3003 would strengthen the section of U.S. federal code that defines sanctuary jurisdictions -- section 1373. It also adds penalties to the code to include the blocking of certain federal law enforcement grants to jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts or pass ordinances preventing local officers from cooperating with federal officers. It strengthens the authority of detainer requests issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and provides immunity for local officers who cooperate with ICE. It also establishes a private right of action of victims (and their families) of murder, rape, or a felony, to sue a state or locality if the crime was committed by an alien who was subject to a detainer but released by the state or locality anyway. The statute of limitations is 10 years.
The original version of Kate's Law, H.R. 361, introduced by Rep. King, would create mandatory minimum sentences for illegal aliens who illegally re-enter the United States and have been convicted of certain crimes. The new version, H.R. 3004, increases penalties, but removes the mandatory sentencing requirements, allowing judges to determine the severity of the sentence.
