Official Summaries

Sarah's Law

This bill requires the Department of Justice or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain a non-U.S. national (alien under federal law) who is unlawfully present in the United States and has been charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or admits to having committed acts that constitute the essential elements of a crime that resulted in the death or serious bodily injury of another person.

DHS must obtain information about the identity of any victims of the crimes for which the detained individual was charged or convicted. DHS shall provide the victim, or a relative or guardian of a deceased victim, with information about the detained individual, including name, date of birth, nationality, immigration status, criminal history, and a description of any related removal efforts.

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 578 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 578

   To require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take into 
custody certain aliens who have been charged in the United States with 
a crime that resulted in the death or serious bodily injury of another 
                    person, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 21, 2025

 Mr. Feenstra (for himself, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Ciscomani, Mr. Estes, Mr. 
 Bost, Mr. Rouzer, Mr. Nehls, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. Finstad, Mr. Bacon, 
Ms. Salazar, Mr. Aderholt, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr. Garbarino, Mr. 
 McClintock, Ms. Mace, Mr. Bergman, Mr. Meuser, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mr. 
   Balderson, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Mrs. Hinson, Mr. Babin, Mr. 
 Edwards, Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Tiffany, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Hamadeh of 
    Arizona, Mr. Evans of Colorado, Mr. Timmons, Mr. Moolenaar, Mr. 
 LaMalfa, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Wied, Mr. Ogles, Mr. Brecheen, Mr. Nunn of 
Iowa, Mr. Ellzey, Mr. Rulli, Mr. Downing, Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania, 
Mr. Sessions, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mrs. Biggs of 
South Carolina, and Mr. McCormick) introduced the following bill; which 
             was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take into 
custody certain aliens who have been charged in the United States with 
a crime that resulted in the death or serious bodily injury of another 
                    person, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as ``Sarah's Law''.

SEC. 2. MANDATORY DETENTION OF CERTAIN ALIENS CHARGED WITH A CRIME 
              RESULTING IN DEATH OR SERIOUS BODILY INJURY.

    Section 236(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1226(c)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (C)--
                            (i) by striking ``sentence'' and inserting 
                        ``sentenced''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``or'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the comma at 
                the end and inserting ``, or''; and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the 
                following:
                    ``(E)(i)(I) is inadmissible under paragraph (6)(A), 
                (6)(C), or (7) of section 212(a),
                    ``(II) is deportable under section 237(a)(1)(B) as 
                an alien whose nonimmigrant visa (or other 
                documentation authorizing admission into the United 
                States as a nonimmigrant) has been revoked under 
                section 221(i), or
                    ``(III) is deportable under section 
                237(a)(1)(C)(i), and
                    ``(ii) is charged with, is arrested for, is 
                convicted of, admits having committed, or admits 
                committing acts which constitute the essential elements 
                of any offense that resulted in the death or serious 
                bodily injury (as defined in section 1365(h)(3) of 
                title 18, United States Code) of another person,''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Notification requirement.--Upon encountering or 
        gaining knowledge of an alien described in paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security shall--
                    ``(A) obtain information from law enforcement 
                agencies and from other available sources regarding the 
                identity of any victims of the crimes for which such 
                alien was charged, arrested, or convicted; and
                    ``(B) provide the victim or, if the victim is 
                deceased, a parent, guardian, spouse, or closest living 
                relative of such victim, with information, on a timely 
                and ongoing basis, including--
                            ``(i) the alien's full name, aliases, date 
                        of birth, and country of nationality;
                            ``(ii) the alien's immigration status and 
                        criminal history;
                            ``(iii) the alien's custody status and any 
                        changes related to the alien's custody; and
                            ``(iv) a description of any efforts by the 
                        United States Government to remove the alien 
                        from the United States.
            ``(4) Detainer.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
        issue a detainer for an alien described in paragraph (1)(E) 
        and, if the alien is not otherwise detained by Federal, State, 
        or local officials, shall effectively and expeditiously take 
        custody of the alien.''.

SEC. 3. SAVINGS PROVISION.

    Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, may be 
construed to limit the rights of crime victims under any other 
provision of law, including section 3771 of title 18, United States 
Code.
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