Representative Harris Introduces Legislation to Combat Sanctuary Campuses

WASHINGTON, DC: Today, Congressman Andy Harris (MD-01) introduced the Federal Immigration Law Campus Compliance Act of 2017. This legislation will end sanctuary policies on campuses nationwide without negatively impacting innocent individual students. The federal government currently provides around $38 billion in grants each year to universities for research and development. Approximately 23% of those funds go to overhead or indirect costs associated with research and development activities, with some institutions receiving hundreds of millions of dollars each year. By withholding reimbursement for “indirect” or overhead costs associated with research and development grants from any institution of higher learning that does not comply with federal immigration law, this legislation will end sanctuary campus policies nationwide.

“I am proud to sponsor and introduce the Federal Immigration Law Campus Compliance Act of 2017. Educational institutions that refuse to comply with federal immigration law undermine our nation’s security. The aim of my bill is to hold these institutions accountable without penalizing students. By withholding only reimbursement for indirect research costs, American students will still have access to financial aid, Pell grants, and direct research funding,” said Congressman Harris.

Congressman Harris’ legislation stands apart from similar bills introduced in the 115th Congress because of the narrow scope of the penalties outlined. The bill does not punish students. Instead, it simply removes a noncompliant university’s ability to pay for overhead costs with federal funds.