In some massive news for those wanting to see immigration enforcement grow stronger than ever under President Donald Trump, some red states are starting to take very strong action to ensure that local officials cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), along with other federal immigration authorities.
Amongst those states that have taken the strongest action is Louisiana, which passed a law in late June of 2025 in which it established prison times and heavy fines for those agents of the state, including sheriffs’ deputies, jailers, and other local law enforcement agents, who do not fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
The passed bill is Senate Bill 15. Under the bill’s provisions, such state officials who do not fully or proactively assist the federal government in border enforcement face up to a year in prison in most cases, and up to a decade in others. The bill targets immigration policies adopted by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office and the New Orleans Police Department, both of which have limited their cooperation with the immigration authorities.
Specifically, the bill prohibits officials from “Knowingly committing any act intended to hinder, delay, prevent, or otherwise interfere with or thwart federal immigration enforcement efforts,” meaning that obstruction of any such efforts by the federal government is now a crime in the state.
Defining in full what it means by federal immigration enforcement efforts, the bill provides, “The crime of obstruction of justice is any of the following acts when committed with the knowledge that such the act has, reasonably may, or will affect an actual or potential present, past, or future criminal proceeding, civil immigration proceeding, or official act of an agent or employee of a governmental entity.”
Later, the bill defines the penalties that can be levied against those officials who break the law and obstruct said proceedings. Beginning, that section provides, “When the obstruction of justice involves a civil immigration proceeding, the offender shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars, imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than one year, or both.”
Continuing, it notes the letter penalties attached to other acts, “When the obstruction of justice involves an official act of an agent or employee of a governmental entity, the offender shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.”
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A bit later on, the bill also notes that, in addition to forbidding obstruction of immigration control efforts, officials cannot release illegal aliens from prison without first alerting immigration officials. It provides that it is forbidden for agents of the state to “Knowingly releases a person, following arrest or booking, from state, parish, or local law enforcement custody without providing advance notice to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the law enforcement agency effecting release is aware that the person either illegally entered or unlawfully remained in the United States.”
That crime, along with others related to releasing illegal aliens from prison or failing to cooperate, is defined as “malfeasance in office,” which under pre-existing Louisiana law is punishable by imprisonment “for not more than ten years, with or without hard labor, or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both.” So, such officials could face up to a decade in prison, not just the one year established by the new bill.