Bills
| 3.23.22

SLAP Act: Making it a Crime For Officials in Sanctuary Cities & States to Obstruct Immigration Enforcement (H.R. 4526)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 4526?

(Updated October 2, 2020)

This bill — known as the SLAP Act — would make it illegal for a state or local official to obstruct the enforcement of immigration laws by refusing to honor federal requests to detain a violator of immigration laws. The crime would be punishable by fines and up to five years imprisonment.

The bill’s full title is the Stopping Lawless Actions of Politicians (SLAP) Act of 2017.

Argument in favor

State and local officials shouldn’t obstruct the enforcement of immigration laws, and this bill would put an end to that by making it a crime to do so.

Argument opposed

The federal government shouldn’t be punishing state and local public servants who are doing what their constituents want in terms of immigration enforcement.

Impact

Undocumented immigrants; state and local officials in sanctuary jurisdictions; and federal law enforcement agencies.

Cost of H.R. 4526

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN) introduced this bill to “hold lawless state and local politicians accountable with criminal penalties for working to obstruct federal immigration enforcement efforts”, adding:

“The American people are rightfully infuriated watching politicians put their open-borders ideology before the rule of law, and the safety of the people they represent. Politicians don’t get to pick and choose what laws to comply with. Americans are dying because politicians sworn to uphold the law refuse to do so. It’s time the federal government gets serious about enforcing immigration laws and holding politicians accountable who conspire to break them.”

This legislation has the support of seven cosponsors in the House, all of whom are Republicans.


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Paul Caffrey / Creative Commons)