🚨 “THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE CHAOS”: Senator Lindsey Graham took to the Senate floor today, February 12, 2026, to demand an immediate end to sanctuary city policies as a partial DHS shutdown looms at midnight.

🚨 “THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE CHAOS”: Senator Lindsey Graham took to the Senate floor today, February 12, 2026, to demand an immediate end to sanctuary city policies as a partial DHS shutdown looms at midnight.

Graham officially introduced and sought unanimous consent for S.3805, the End Sanctuary Cities Act of 2026, which would impose criminal penalties on state and local officials who willfully obstruct federal immigration law.

Graham argued that the unrest surrounding recent ICE operations is a direct result of “lawlessness” in 12 sanctuary states and over 200 communities.

He noted that over 25,000 ICE detainers have been ignored by local officials in the last two years, allowing criminal illegal immigrants to be released back into communities.

Graham labeled sanctuary status a “magnet” for future illegal immigration and a system rife with “fraud,” specifically citing issues in Minneapolis.

Under S.3805, any official who refuses to turn over an illegal immigrant facing criminal charges or a conviction to federal authorities would face prison time.

Senator Graham: “So, DHS apparently is going to shut down. I hope we can get it back open. What is this all about? Obey the law? Good, I got an idea for you. If you want people to obey the law in this country, do away with sanctuary cities. Senator Murphy is from Connecticut. It’s one of twelve sanctuary states. What does that mean? Local officials, state officials refuse to work with the federal government to turn people over to the federal government as required by federal law. So, you want to obey the law in Connecticut? Stop being a sanctuary state. You want to fix immigration? Have policies that make sense. Y’all act like for four years Biden wasn’t president. Every Democratic senator aided and abetted the Biden administration with a massive invasion of this country.

You turned the other way. You never said a word. You let Biden obliterate our border. You let him send people into the interior on planes, trains, and automobiles. Only God knows what happened, who’s here. You sat by and you did nothing. And here’s what I’ve learned about my friends on the Democratic side: they’re never going to agree to deport anybody because all their proposals make it pretty much impossible to deport anybody. Body cameras? That makes sense. If you want to find out how to make ICE more professional, count me in. But your proposal is to require a judicial warrant to deport somebody. Can you imagine how many judges you would need if you’ve got 15 million illegal people here to go get a warrant from a judge? This is not a criminal proceeding. This is an administrative proceeding. The President as the Commander-in-Chief has the ability to detain and deport people administratively. You don’t need a federal judge. You’re trying to create a mechanism so we will fail cleaning up your mess. We got elected to clean up your mess. We’re going to hold ICE agents accountable if they went too far.

Tom Homan went to Minnesota to turn the heat down. Great. Democratic politicians all over this country have been turning the heat up. You’re wedded to lousy, dangerous policies. Senator Murphy, why don’t you get Connecticut right with federal law? Here’s what’s happened: we got twelve sanctuary states, 200-plus sanctuary communities, 25,000 people ICE has requested a detainer, ignored for two years. States have refused to work with ICE for 25,000 people that have a detainer at the federal level. Sanctuary city law is a magnet for future illegal immigration. Sanctuary city policies are full of fraud, like in Minneapolis. They bring out the worst in the system, not the best, and it breaks down law and order. We’ve been talking for weeks about “you want to fix things.” You’re blocking a debate. I can’t believe I’m here. I thought we’re going to work together to try to find out how to reform ICE and also address the bottom line problem, which is sanctuary city law abuse. That’s the problem. Not ICE, not Miller, not me, not Noem. Policies that have been in place that entice more illegal immigration. Every Democratic senator turned the other way during the four years of Biden. You didn’t do anything to bring reason to chaos. How many of you spoke about Lake and Raleigh? Talking about children being abused. How many thousands of people have been raped and abused, stolen, and mistreated because of this invasion of illegal immigrants from virtually all over the world with people from gangs, you name it.

So you never talk about the victims. Just want to talk about TV in Minnesota. I’m all for these ICE agents being reviewed. I’m all for making them more professional. But I’m not all for stopping the mandate that President Trump was given, which is to deal with illegal immigration and the criminal elements therein. So I have legislation, it’s S.3805, and it says if a state or local official does not turn over to the federal government an illegal immigrant who’s facing criminal charges, been convicted, or facing criminal charges, then that state or local official can go to jail. You have an obligation under federal law to turn these people over. Sanctuary states and cities — 25,000 ICE detainers denied. 25,000 people that should be deported have not been turned over to the federal government because of these twelve states and these 200 sanctuary cities. Let’s get to the root cause of the problem.

So, Mr. President, I am going to ask unanimous consent that we vote on S.3805 that would make it a crime for a state or local official not to turn over to federal authorities a criminal illegal immigrant. Somebody’s charged with a crime or convicted with a crime, and if you don’t turn them over, you would face punishment. That will stop illegal sanctuary city policy. If people knew they would go to jail for breaking federal law, I think they would stop. You’ve had weeks, and we’re not even debating. You’re never going to change — if you want to have immigration policed, our Democratic friends will never be there for you. They turned their back on you and your family and allowed this nation to be invaded by 10, 15, 20 million people. Who the hell knows? We’re trying to fix it. We’re trying to fix it, and we’re not going to give up. And until you change the policies, you never stop illegal immigration. If there are twelve states, Mr. President, that have sanctuary status, they’ll keep coming. All they got to do is get to one of these states. It’s magnets for future illegal immigration. It breaks down law and order, and it needs to stop. So, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 318, S.3805, further ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.”