Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act
The Unhandcuffing Police to Locate and Interdict Foreign Transgressors Act (UPLIFT Act) is a bill that would dramatically tighten expectations around cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and expand the use of immigration detainers. It aims to stop “sanctuary” or noncooperative practices by state and local governments, requiring them to fully cooperate with federal authorities (DHS and DOJ) on immigration enforcement, data sharing, and related law enforcement activities. It also broadens the use of private detention facilities, strengthens the detainer framework, creates new immunity for entities that honor detainers, and provides a private right of action for crime victims against states or localities that decline to honor detainers. The bill would also require an annual DHS assessment of noncompliant jurisdictions and includes a mechanism for local governments to sue states to compel compliance. In short, the bill seeks to (1) compel greater cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, (2) expand private detention arrangements and related funding/shaping of detention facilities, (3) empower localities to challenge states in court for noncompliance, (4) tighten and clarify the use of ICE detainers, and (5) create civil liability protections and a private right of action related to detainer compliance or noncompliance.
Key Points
- 1Expanded prohibition on sanctuary/noncompliance: The bill strengthens Section 642 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to prohibit federal, state, or local governments and individuals from restricting cooperation with immigration enforcement, including activities to obtain or share information about individuals’ citizenship/immigration status and to notify federal authorities about potential suspects.
- 2Private detention facilities and government involvement: The act would permit and push for the government to engage with immigration detention facilities owned or operated by private entities. It also bars restrictions on entering agreements, selling government property, or funding/donating resources for such private detention facilities.
- 3Local government standing and annual compliance reports: Local governments harmed by state noncompliance can sue the relevant state in federal court for injunctive relief, with expedited handling. The Secretary of Homeland Security would annually determine which states or localities are noncompliant with the new provisions and report to Congress, with additional reporting available upon request by congressional Judiciary committees.
- 4ICE detainers clarified and time windows set: The bill revises detainer authority under section 287(d) to specify probable-cause standards for issuing detainers and creates a transfer window (up to 96 hours after the individual would be released) for transferring custody to DHS, after a detainer is honored.
- 5Immunity and private right of action related to detainers: States and contracted private detention entities that honor DHS detainers would receive immunity from certain lawsuits, with the United States as the defendant in such cases. However, there is a private right of action if a state/local entity released a detainee due to not honoring a detainer, and the released individual commits a murder/rape or a felony, with a 10-year statute of limitations and the possibility of attorneys’ fees for the plaintiff.