Sarah’s Law would change how the U.S. immigration system handles noncitizens who are charged with crimes that result in the death or serious bodily injury of another person. Specifically, it would amend the detention provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act to require mandatory detention (via U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE) for aliens who are charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or admit having committed offenses that produced death or serious injury, and who also meet certain immigration-status criteria that make them inadmissible or deportable. The bill also adds a new requirement for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to notify the victims or their families with information about the alien and the government’s removal efforts. Additionally, DHS would issue a detainer to ensure custody of these individuals if they are not already detained. The bill preserves the rights of crime victims under existing law. In short, the measure aims to significantly expand mandatory detention and faster custody for a broad category of offenders with deadly or severely injurious crimes, while introducing a formal victim-notification process and preserving existing victims’ rights.
Key Points
- 1Expands mandatory detention under INA 236(c) to aliens who are charged, arrested for, convicted of, or admit having committed offenses that resulted in death or serious bodily injury, with additional immigration-status triggers (inadmissible or deportable under specified provisions).
- 2Creates a new eligibility framework tying the detention to immigration-status grounds, including inadmissibility and deportability linked to revocation of status or other immigration documentation.
- 3Adds a new Notification requirement: DHS must gather information about crime victims and provide timely, ongoing updates to victims or their closest relatives about the alien’s identity, immigration status, custody status, and removal efforts.
- 4Requires DHS to issue a detainer for the described aliens and to effectively and expeditiously take custody if the individual is not already detained by other authorities.
- 5Includes a savings provision to ensure the bill does not limit crime-victims’ rights already protected under other laws (e.g., existing victims-rights statutes).