The bill directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (through ICE) and the Attorney General to build and publish a database identifying State and local government entities whose laws, regulations, policies, or practices conflict with or violate specific federal immigration statutes, or that limit cooperation with federal immigration interviews, detainers, or arrests. The agencies must produce the database within 90 days of enactment and update it at least quarterly.
Any jurisdiction placed in the database is labeled a “sanctuary jurisdiction,” and the bill bars federal funds from being obligated or expended with respect to those jurisdictions after enactment. That linkage—designation by federal agencies plus an across-the-board funding prohibition—creates both an enforcement mechanism for federal immigration authorities and a likely legal and operational flashpoint for states, localities, federal grant programs, and courts.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill requires DHS (via ICE) and the Attorney General to jointly create a publicly available database within 90 days and update it quarterly listing State or local entities whose laws, policies, or practices conflict with specified federal immigration statutes or restrict cooperation with federal detainers, arrests, or interviews. It then prohibits obligation or expenditure of federal funds with respect to any listed jurisdiction.
Who It Affects
State and local governments with policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, federal grant-making agencies that distribute funds to jurisdictions, DHS/ICE and DOJ enforcement components tasked with compiling the list, and recipients of federal funding in affected jurisdictions (service providers, hospitals, schools, etc.).
Why It Matters
The bill replaces negotiation and conditional grants with an administrative designation plus a blanket funding bar, raising compliance, constitutional, and operational questions for federal programs and local governments—especially where local policies are motivated by community policing or service-delivery considerations.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill inserts a new section into the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 that tasks two federal actors—DHS (acting through ICE) and the Attorney General—with creating and maintaining a public database of State and local government entities that the agencies jointly determine meet the bill’s definition of a problematic jurisdiction. The agencies must publish the initial database within 90 days of the law taking effect and refresh it at least every quarter.
A jurisdiction gets on the list if the agencies find the jurisdiction has a law, regulation, policy, or practice that either (1) conflicts with or violates particular federal immigration statutes specified in the bill, (2) prohibits or restricts local compliance with certain federal detainers or arrests authorized under federal law, or (3) prevents federal officials from interviewing incarcerated individuals to determine immigration status or criminal involvement. Once an entity appears in the database it is labeled a “sanctuary jurisdiction.”The statute then links designation to funding: federal funds may not be obligated or expended with respect to any sanctuary jurisdiction after the law’s enactment.
The text does not enumerate exceptions or carve-outs for particular federal programs, nor does it establish a notice-and-comment or appeal process for jurisdictions that contest a designation. Finally, the act inserts a clerical amendment adding the new section to the table of contents of the 1996 Act.Practically, the bill centralizes an enforcement lever: instead of relying on program-level conditions or litigation, it authorizes a recurring federal list intended to make local noncompliance with federal immigration priorities visible and costly.
That approach hands operational control to DHS and the Attorney General but leaves important design choices—methodology for determinations, scope of “with respect to” funding prohibitions, and dispute resolution—unaddressed in the text, creating implementation work for agencies and predictable legal challenges.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill requires DHS (through ICE) and the Attorney General to develop a public database identifying sanctuary jurisdictions within 90 days of enactment and to update it at least quarterly.
A jurisdiction is listed if the agencies jointly find it conflicts with or violates specified federal immigration statutes (including 8 U.S.C. 1373, 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii), and 1327) or if it limits compliance with federal detainers, arrests authorized under 8 U.S.C. 1252c, or interviews of incarcerated individuals.
Entities placed in the database are officially labeled ‘sanctuary jurisdictions.’, The bill bars federal funds from being obligated or expended “with respect to” any sanctuary jurisdiction after the date of enactment, without specifying program-level exceptions.
The bill adds the new section (642A) to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996’s table of contents as a clerical amendment.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Short title
Gives the act the name “Sanctuary Penalty and Public Protection Act of 2025.” This part is administrative but signals the bill’s framing—linking sanctuary designation to a public-safety rationale—which matters for how agencies and courts may interpret intent during implementation and litigation.
Mandate to build and publish the sanctuary database
Requires DHS (through the ICE Director) and the Attorney General to jointly create a publicly accessible database within 90 days and refresh it at least quarterly. The provision lists three factual bases for inclusion—conflict/violation of enumerated statutes; prohibiting compliance with certain detainers or arrests; or blocking federal interviews of incarcerated people—giving the agencies a multi-pronged standard to apply. Practically this forces DHS/DOJ to adopt operational definitions, an evidence standard for ‘conflict’ or ‘prohibit,’ and interagency procedures for joint determinations on a tight timetable.
Formalizes the term 'sanctuary jurisdiction'
Declares that any State or local government entity included in the new database is a 'sanctuary jurisdiction.' The label has legal effect under the bill because it triggers the funding prohibition. The text does not differentiate among types of jurisdictions (cities, counties, states) or include an internal appeals process, meaning the mere act of listing automatically changes the entity’s statutory status for funding purposes.
Prohibits federal funds for listed jurisdictions; updates table of contents
Prohibits federal funds made available after enactment from being obligated or expended with respect to any sanctuary jurisdiction. The provision does not define 'with respect to' or list exceptions for particular federal programs, leaving broad discretion—and potential disputes—over which funds are cut. The accompanying clerical amendment inserts the new section into the 1996 Act’s table of contents.
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Explore Immigration in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- DHS/ICE and the Department of Justice: The agencies gain a statutory mechanism—an administratively maintained, public list—designed to increase leverage over jurisdictions that limit immigration cooperation and to focus enforcement resources.
- Local jurisdictions that already fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement: These jurisdictions avoid designation and related funding risks, potentially gaining a relative competitive advantage for federal grants and law-enforcement cooperation.
- Federal policymakers advocating for stricter immigration enforcement: The bill centralizes an enforcement tool that can be used to signal federal priorities and to press compliance without negotiating program-by-program conditions.
Who Bears the Cost
- State and local governments placed on the list: They risk suspension or loss of federal funds 'with respect to' their jurisdiction, creating budgetary impacts across public safety, health, education, and social services.
- Nonprofit service providers and residents in designated jurisdictions: Organizations and individuals that rely on federal grants or federally funded programs may see funding interruptions even when their services are unrelated to immigration enforcement.
- Federal grant-making agencies and program administrators: Agencies must identify which funds fall 'with respect to' a listed jurisdiction, implement withholding, and defend likely legal challenges—adding administrative burden and litigation costs.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between the federal government’s interest in uniform immigration enforcement and State/local discretion over law enforcement and community-policing policy: the bill strengthens federal leverage by tying designation to funding, but does so through an administratively driven, binary label and a broad funding cut-off that risks disrupting unrelated programs, provoking constitutional challenges, and undermining cooperative local strategies that prioritize public-safety goals other than federal immigration enforcement.
The bill leaves critical implementation choices to DHS and DOJ but provides minimal procedural safeguards. It requires a joint determination but does not establish notice to the affected jurisdiction, a process for correction, or evidentiary standards for designation.
That gap will drive litigation over procedures and standards before courts, because jurisdictions will argue for due process, including notice and an opportunity to contest adverse designations.
The funding prohibition’s scope is ambiguous: the phrase 'with respect to' is broad and could be read to reach programmatic, geographic, categorical, or even indirect funding relationships. Absent statutory limits or exceptions, agencies must decide whether to withhold narrow line-item grants, block entire program funding streams, or take more targeted actions—choices that will intersect with Supreme Court doctrines on conditional spending and anti-commandeering.
Finally, the statutory criteria reference multiple federal provisions and a mixture of 'conflict,' 'violation,' and 'prohibition' standards, creating interpretive complexity when local policies are discretionary, nonbinding, or phrased in general terms (e.g., informal refusal to honor detainers).
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