H.R. 7423 — No Sanctuary Cities Act of 2026

This section revises the prohibition on state and local government restrictions regarding communication of aliens' immigration or citizenship status with federal authorities (8 U.S.C. 1373) by (1) defining "information" to include immigration or citizenship status, custody status, scheduled release date and time, facility or detention location, and transfer or discharge information, and defining "materially restrict" to include prohibiting, delaying, conditioning, or penalizing sharing in a manner that interferes with timely transmission; (2) prohibiting states or political subdivisions from enacting or enforcing any law, regulation, policy, or practice that prohibits or materially restricts government entities or officials from sharing, sending, requesting, or receiving such information with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or other federal, state, or local entities, from disciplining officials for lawful sharing, or from imposing advance approval or procedural delays that materially restrict sharing; (3) requiring states or political subdivisions, upon DHS request regarding a specific individual, to notify DHS of criminal custody release at least 48 hours prior for scheduled releases or immediately for unscheduled court-ordered releases (while maintaining custody up to 48 hours to allow DHS assumption of custody); (4) requiring DHS to respond to inquiries from federal, state, or local agencies seeking to verify or ascertain any individual's citizenship or immigration status for any lawful purpose; and (5) providing state and local law enforcement officers with the same immunity from personal liability as federal officers for performing duties under this section, including maintaining information, notifying DHS, investigating, identifying, detaining, or transferring aliens to federal custody to enforce immigration laws.

This section establishes enforcement mechanisms for section 642 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1373), which prohibits federal, state, or local government entities from restricting the sending to, or receipt or exchange of, information regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status with federal immigration authorities. Specifically, it (1) authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in U.S. district court for declaratory or injunctive relief to enforce compliance with such section, and (2) provides that a state or political subdivision determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be in knowing violation of such section may be deemed ineligible for grants administered by the Department of Justice for law enforcement purposes, as specified by the Attorney General.