8 U.S.C. § 1365
Section 1365 · Reimbursement of States for costs of incarcerating illegal aliens and certain Cuban nationals
This is § 501 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Saldivar v. Sessions (2017)
Most recently applied in Jacobo Jajati v. United States Customs and Border Protection (May 2024)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Subject to the amounts provided in advance in appropriation Acts, the Attorney General shall reimburse a State for the costs incurred by the State for the imprisonment of any illegal alien or Cuban national who is convicted of a felony by such State.
An illegal alien referred to in subsection (a) of this section is any alien who is any alien convicted of a felony who is in the United States unlawfully and—
(1) whose most recent entry into the United States was without inspection, or
(2) whose most recent admission to the United States was as a nonimmigrant and—
(A) whose period of authorized stay as a nonimmigrant expired, or
(B) whose unlawful status was known to the Government,
before the date of the commission of the crime for which the alien is convicted.
A Marielito Cuban convicted of a felony referred to in subsection (a) of this section is a national of Cuba who—
(1) was allowed by the Attorney General to come to the United States in 1980,
(2) after such arrival committed any violation of State or local law for which a term of imprisonment was imposed, and
(3) at the time of such arrival and at the time of such violation was not an alien lawfully admitted to the United States—
(A) for permanent or temporary residence, or
(B) under the terms of an immigrant visa or a nonimmigrant visa issued,
under the laws of the United States.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
The term ‘State’ has the meaning given such term in section 1101(a)(36) of this title.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
Section was enacted as part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and not as part of the Immigration and Nationality Act which comprises this chapter.
Regulations
Pub. L. 103–317, title VIII, Aug. 26, 1994, 108 Stat. 1778, provided in part: “That the Attorney General shall promulgate regulations to (a) prescribe requirements for program participation eligibility for States, (b) require verification by States of the eligible incarcerated population data with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (c) prescribe a formula for distributing assistance to eligible States, and (d) award assistance to eligible States”.
Cross References
Assistance to States and counties for costs of incarcerating certain Cuban nationals, see section 1522(f) of this title.