What Happened?

A House subcommittee focused on immigration took up the question of whether cities and states can legally limit cooperation with federal immigration agents. The Sept. 15 hearing came weeks after New York passed a law barring local law enforcement from working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on civil immigration cases, and as a related bill sits waiting for a full House vote. [](#ngr-890c42d4-c9fa-4c17-ae8e-850a27d3854d)

Elizabeth Carter testified that her son and daughter-in-law were killed in Oregon in November 2025 by a truck driver who had been released at the border, given a work permit, and issued a California commercial driver's license. ICE had lodged a detainer, but Oregon's sanctuary rules blocked it from being honored. The driver was released, then arrested by ICE weeks later.

Why Does it Matter to Me?

If you live in a city or state with sanctuary policies, this debate directly affects how local police and sheriffs interact with federal immigration agents. Under sanctuary rules, local jails generally do not hold people for ICE pickup after their release, even if ICE has asked them to.

Subcommittee Chair Tom McClintock said sanctuary jurisdictions have refused at least 41,000 ICE detainers over three and a half years, allowing people with criminal histories to be released. A March 2026 NBC poll found voters viewed sanctuary cities negatively, 43 percent to 33 percent.

Both Sides, Now

Supporters of restricting sanctuary policies argue that local refusal to honor ICE detainers puts communities at risk. Sheriff Frederick Akshar of New York, who is suing Governor Kathy Hochul over the state's new ICE cooperation ban, told the subcommittee that prohibiting local jails from honoring detainers lets people with serious criminal histories walk free.

Opponents push back on constitutional and public safety grounds. Naureen Shah, director of government affairs for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), cited a Supreme Court precedent, *Printz v. United States*, which limits the federal government's ability to force state and local officials to carry out federal law.

Shah also presented research showing sanctuary cities do not have higher crime rates than non-sanctuary cities, and raised concerns about wrongful detentions of U.S. citizens and legal residents due to errors in ICE detainer requests. All Democrats on the committee opposed the legislation, according to McClintock.

H.R. 7640, the Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act of 2026, cleared the House Judiciary Committee in March by a 22-11 vote. It would require local cooperation with federal immigration authorities and cut federal grants to jurisdictions that refuse. Courts have already blocked earlier White House attempts to use funding as leverage, ruling that approach unconstitutional.

What Happens Next?

The bill has not yet received a full House vote. McClintock said Republican leadership committed to bringing it to the floor before the end of the session, but no date has been set. The day after the hearing, the Fairfax County, Virginia, commonwealth's attorney was subpoenaed to produce documents related to his office's sanctuary policies, a sign that the committee plans to keep pressing the issue.

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This article was generated by AI pulling from data. Each article is edited by an editor for accuracy and clarity.

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