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To establish criminal liability for mayors of sanctuary cities in cases of murder committed by undocumented immigrants within their jurisdiction, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill creates a new federal criminal offense that establishes liability for mayors of sanctuary cities. A mayor can be convicted of criminal negligence resulting in manslaughter if an undocumented immigrant commits murder within the city's jurisdiction and the mayor knowingly adopted or maintained a sanctuary policy that restricted cooperation with federal immigration enforcement that directly and foreseeably contributed to the immigrant not being detained or removed beforehand. Conviction carries a penalty of up to 7 years in prison, fines, and mandatory removal from public office. The Attorney General is given exclusive prosecutorial authority, and the bill takes effect 90 days after enactment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Earl L. "Buddy" Carter’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $80,924
- INTERNATIONAL AUTO LOGISTICS $7,500
- SAVANNAH PILOTS ASSOC $6,600
- HENNESSY AUTOMOBILE COMPANIES $6,600
- SADOWSKI CO $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Earl L. "Buddy" Carter → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Aug 1, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Aug 1, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 1, 2025
Mr. Carter of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To establish criminal liability for mayors of sanctuary cities in cases of murder committed by undocumented immigrants within their jurisdiction, 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 the “Establishing Responsibility for Illegals’ Crimes and Adding Deterrence and Accountability for Mayors’ Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025” or the “ERIC ADAMS Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR MAYORS OF SANCTUARY CITIES.
(a) In General.—Chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1112 the following new section:
SEC. 1112A. CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR MAYORS OF SANCTUARY CITIES.
(1) Offense.—A mayor of a sanctuary city shall be guilty of criminal negligence resulting in manslaughter if—
(A) an undocumented immigrant commits murder, as defined under applicable State or Federal law, within the jurisdiction of the sanctuary city; and
(B) the mayor knowingly adopted, maintained, or failed to repeal a sanctuary policy that materially restricted cooperation with Federal immigration enforcement, and such policy directly and foreseeably contributed to the failure to detain or remove the undocumented immigrant prior to the commission of the murder.
(2) Penalty.—A mayor convicted under this section shall be subject to—
(A) imprisonment for not more than 7 years, a fine under title 18, or both; and
(B) mandatory removal or disqualification from public office upon conviction.
(3) Causation.—For the purposes of this section, a sanctuary policy shall be deemed to have “directly and foreseeably contributed” if it created a substantial risk that an undocumented immigrant who committed murder could avoid detention or removal.
SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) The Attorney General shall have exclusive authority to investigate and prosecute offenses under this Act.
(b) The United States District Courts shall have original jurisdiction over any criminal proceeding arising under this Act.
(c) Federal courts shall have jurisdiction over cases brought under this Act.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act:
(1) Sanctuary city means any political subdivision of a State that, by law, ordinance, policy, or practice, prohibits or substantially restricts local law enforcement or municipal agencies from—
(A) cooperating with or providing information to Federal immigration enforcement authorities; or.
(B) complying with lawful detainer requests or administrative warrants issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
(2) Undocumented immigrant means any person who is present in the United States without lawful immigration status as defined by 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101 et seq.
(3) Mayor means the chief executive officer of a municipal government, whether elected or appointed.
SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY.
(a) If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the Act, and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) This Act shall take effect 90 days after the date of its enactment. <all>
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