It’s Finally Happening – Bill Allowing Victims to Sue Judges, Others Who Let Illegals Run Wild Is Quietly Advancing in Congress
The article discusses a House bill, known as the “Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act of 2026” (H.R. 7640), which aims to allow crime victims to sue state and local officials who release illegal immigrants under federal detainers. Introduced by Republican Rep. Tom McClintock, the bill is currently on the legislative calendar, awaiting a potential vote after the upcoming election. The bill proposes creating a private right of action, enabling victims to sue jurisdictions that release criminal illegal aliens, thereby reducing the civil immunity currently enjoyed by officials in some areas.
Key provisions include mandating local and state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, penalizing jurisdictions that refuse to honor immigration detainers with funding cuts, and providing federal immunity for complying officials. The bill also seeks to prevent jurisdictions from blocking law enforcement efforts related to immigration enforcement and mandates DHS to issue detainers for individuals suspected of being inadmissible or deportable.
Supporters argue the bill addresses issues related to sanctuary policies that have led to tragic cases, such as the 2023 killing of a woman in Sacramento by an illegal immigrant who had been released after crossing the border illegally. Critics and advocates are watching whether the bill will pass, with plans for a vote expected after the election.
A House bill that would let crime victims sue state and local officials who release illegal immigrants under federal detainers is sitting on the calendar for a possible post-election vote.
The measure is the Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act of 2026, H.R. 7640. Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of California introduced it on Feb. 23.
The House placed it on the Union Calendar on March 12 as Calendar No. 465. Just the News reported Monday that the committee cleared it with little notice last month.
Congress can stop sanctuary policies.
They should pass @RepMcClintock’s H.R. 7640: Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act of 2026
Does your Member of Congress support it? https://t.co/GstupAvddH
— Immigration Accountability Project Action (@iaproject) August 17, 2026
The provision Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio called the bill’s sharpest tool is a private right of action. Victims, and the families of victims, could sue the cities, states, and officials who released the criminal illegal who harmed them.
The Congressional Research Service summary says the suit can be brought against a state or local government that, for example, released someone who was later convicted of the crime despite a detainer.
House GOP crafts nuclear option for sanctuary cities, letting victims sue local officials https://t.co/aLUN5I0Gr3 via @JustTheNews The bill’s most poignant weapon creates a right of private action for victims and families of victims to sue the municipalities and officials who released violent offenders, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Just the News.
— SASSYCHICK (@KT07500539) October 13, 2026
Jordan told Just the News the language would strip some of the civil immunity those officials now have. In some places that protection is absolute immunity, the broadest form of the doctrine.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
The rest of the bill is about cooperation and money. It would bar state and local governments from blocking their own employees from enforcing immigration law, working with federal agents, or asking about a person’s status.
It would require the Department of Homeland Security to issue a detainer when someone is arrested for a criminal or motor-vehicle offense and DHS has probable cause that the person is inadmissible or deportable. Local authorities would have to honor those detainers.
Jurisdictions DHS finds out of compliance would lose certain law-enforcement and immigration funding. That money would go to places that comply. The bill also gives federal immunity to officials and agencies that follow it, and it lets related prosecutions be moved to federal court.
DHS could refuse to hand someone over to a jurisdiction that is not in compliance, and it could not transfer a person who already has a final order of removal.
Just the News tied the push to recent cases.
The outlet cited a September DHS account of Rohit Rohit, an illegal immigrant from India released during the Biden years, who is accused of stalking Shalini Thakur for months and then killing her in a Panera Bread parking lot in Sacramento.
ENOUGH 😡😡 BREAKING: NEW: DHS confirms that a murder suspect who killed a woman in Sacramento, CA on Tuesday by chasing her down with a gun, shooting her, then shooting her again in the head on the ground, is an Indian illegal alien who was caught & released at the border by the Biden administration.
DHS says Rohit Rohit was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the Arizona border illegally in August 2023, but he was released into the country.
Per local media, he had been stalking and harassing the woman he killed, even putting an AirTag under the hood of her car.
He shot and killed himself after the murder.
DHS statement:
“This illegal alien from India harassed, stalked, and then killed a 38-year-old woman in California, and then took his own life when police caught up to him,” said a DHS Spokesperson. “This tragedy would have been completely avoided if it weren’t for the Biden Administration RELEASING this killer into our country.”
— MAGA Deb 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@DebRN1953) September 11, 2026
DHS said sanctuary politicians had to end policies that “play Russian roulette with American lives.”
The bill has not had a floor vote. Congress.gov lists it as reported to the House and waiting on the calendar. Jordan’s timeline for a vote is the period after the election.
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