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HB182 • 2025

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AGREEMENTS.

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AGREEMENTS.

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Gorman
Last action
2025-07-14
Official status
Signed 7/14/25
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The effective date is not specified in the provided text; it may be upon signature or a future date determined by standard state procedure.

Delaware Law Limiting Immigration Enforcement Agreements

This new Delaware law stops listed state and local police agencies from making deals to enforce federal immigration rules or share data about people's citizenship status.

What This Bill Does

  • Stops law enforcement agencies from signing agreements that let them act as federal immigration officers.
  • Bans contracts that require police to hold or house people for breaking civil immigration laws.
  • Prohibits sharing personal information about a person's nationality, citizenship status, or immigration status unless there is a valid court order or federal law requires it.
  • Requires agencies with existing immigration agreements to end those deals by July 1, 2025.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The Delaware State Police and police departments in cities like Wilmington.
  • Police forces at the University of Delaware and Delaware State University.
  • State agencies including the Department of Justice, Capitol Police, Fire Marshal, and others listed in the law.

Terms To Know

Law-enforcement agency
Specific police departments and state security groups named in the law, such as city police, university police, and certain state offices like the Fire Marshal or Department of Justice.
Federal immigration enforcement powers
The authority to enforce federal laws about entering or staying in the country, including detaining people for civil violations.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This law does not stop police from working with the federal government on other public safety issues.
  • The official text does not list a specific date when this new rule starts beyond the signing date, though it sets July 1, 2025 as a deadline for ending old agreements.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HA 1

1 • Gorman

Passed 6/24/25

Plain English: This amendment updates a bill to strictly ban law enforcement agencies from making new or renewed deals with federal immigration authorities while clarifying that they can still enforce court warrants and share criminal history data as required by other laws.

  • It prohibits police departments in Delaware from entering into, changing, renewing, or extending agreements to exercise federal civil immigration authority under Section 287(g).
  • It removes a previous rule that would have stopped agencies from sharing information if an agreement caused them to do so.
  • It adds a statement confirming that police can still enforce valid court-issued warrants and must follow other federal laws about sharing criminal history records.
  • It changes the deadline for ending any existing agreements to 30 days after this law officially takes effect.
  • The exact date when agencies must end current agreements depends on when the final bill becomes an official law, which is not specified in this text.
  • This amendment only covers specific types of immigration authority and criminal history sharing; it does not explain how other federal laws might interact with state police work.

Bill History

  1. 2025-07-14 Delaware General Assembly

    Signed by Governor

  2. 2025-06-30 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 17 YES 3 NO 1 NOT VOTING

  3. 2025-06-26 Delaware General Assembly

    Reported Out of Committee (Executive) in Senate with 3 Favorable, 2 On Its Merits

  4. 2025-06-24 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment HA 1 to HB 182 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

  5. 2025-06-24 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By House. Votes: 28 YES 12 NO 1 VACANT

  6. 2025-06-24 Delaware General Assembly

    Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate

  7. 2025-06-18 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment HA 1 to HB 182 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  8. 2025-06-18 Delaware General Assembly

    Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 6 On Its Merits

  9. 2025-05-21 Delaware General Assembly

    Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House

Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AGREEMENTS.
This Act prohibits law-enforcement agencies from entering into agreements with federal immigration enforcement authorities to enforce immigration violations or share immigration enforcement related data.
This Act is not intended to prevent a law-enforcement agency from working with the federal government on other public safety efforts.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Rep. Gorman & Rep. Ortega & Sen. Lockman & Sen. Pinkney

Reps. Chukwuocha, Snyder-Hall, Lynn, Morrison, Michael Smith, Ross Levin, Phillips, Romer, Bolden, Lambert; Sens. Sturgeon, Cruce, Huxtable, Seigfried

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 182

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AGREEMENTS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend Part V, Title 11 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

Chapter 84B. PROHIBITED POLICE PRACTICES

§ 8401B. Definitions.

As used in this chapter “law-enforcement agency” means the Delaware State Police, the Wilmington City Police Department, the New Castle County Police, the University of Delaware Police Division, the Delaware State University Police Department, the police force established by the Delaware River and Bay Authority, the police department, bureau of police, or police force of any incorporated municipality, city, or town within this State, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the Delaware Capitol Police, Probation and Parole Office of the Department of Correction, Probation and Parole of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families, State Fire Marshal, the Department of Justice, the State Police Drug Diversion Unit, or the State Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement.

§ 8402B. Law-enforcement agency agreements; prohibitions.

(a) A law-enforcement agency may not enter into or renew an agreement, contract, memorandum of understanding, or other arrangement that:

(1) Authorizes the law-enforcement agency to exercise federal immigration enforcement powers or to detain or house individuals for federal civil immigration violations.

(2) Causes the law enforcement agency to detain or house individuals who are in the custody of a federal immigration authority for violations of federal immigration law.

(3) Authorizes the law-enforcement agency to disclose an individual’s identifiable information as it relates to the individual’s nationality, citizenship status, or immigration status unless directed by a valid judicial warrant or required by federal law.

(b) Each unit of local government, law-enforcement agency, and State agency with an existing immigration enforcement agreement must exercise the termination provision contained in the immigration enforcement agreement before July 1, 2025.

SYNOPSIS

This Act prohibits law-enforcement agencies from entering into agreements with federal immigration enforcement authorities to enforce immigration violations or share immigration enforcement related data.

This Act is not intended to prevent a law-enforcement agency from working with the federal government on other public safety efforts.