Rep. Buddy Carter (R., Ga.) introduced legislation, obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, to assist the Trump administration in its crackdown on illegal immigration.

Carter’s No Sanctuary Cities Act would ensure that dangerous individuals don’t slip through the cracks because of sanctuary city policies. The bill requires state and local governments to cooperate with federal immigration authorities by sharing custody and release information, holding certain detainees for up to 48 hours when requested, protecting officers who comply, and punishing jurisdictions that try to block or limit that cooperation.

Carter’s home state of Georgia has been rocked by the battle over illegal immigration; Laken Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, was murdered in 2024 by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Her murder led to the bipartisan passage of the Laken Riley Act, that requires the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take illegal immigrants who have been charged in the United States with theft into custody.

DHS previously noted that Riley’s murderer was released in New York before going to Georgia, which is why “Laken Riley would likely still be with us today had this law been in place,” Carter told the Reporter.

Carter added that “so-called sanctuary cities protect criminal illegal immigrants at the expense of justice and American citizens’ safety. Far-left officials like [Gavin] Newsom, [Tim] Walz, and [Zohran] Mamdani shield murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from deportation while actively promoting violence against law enforcement officers. It’s disgusting, anti-American, and must end. The No Sanctuary Cities Act will force compliance with federal law enforcement, holding criminals to account and making our streets safe again.”

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D., Ga.), Carter’s opponent, has the opposite voting record on most key votes related to illegal immigration. In 2024, Ossoff voted against a version of the Laken Riley Act, before voting in favor of it in what the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) called “an attempt to save his political career.”

Carter is in a three-way primary to challenge Ossoff, whose record on immigration is something that Republicans are eager to litigate. “Jon Ossoff has never publicly said Laken Riley’s name,” NRSC Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia said. “He refused to champion the Laken Riley Act and only flip-flopped on the life-saving legislation when it was politically expedient for him. Ossoff puts illegals and his radical open borders agenda above the safety of Georgians.” 

Recently, Ossoff “remained silent,” the NRSC noted, after an illegal immigrant from Honduras was charged with a “gruesome murder” of a Georgia mother and grandmother.