Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin says localities with sanctuary city practices should lose state funding.
The Republican governor will seek legislative approval for a policy that would cut off funding to law enforcement agencies and jails that do not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers, he said during an event in Richmond on Thursday.
But the Virginia Senate Majority leader calls Youngkin's effort political and says it's "highly unlikely" to win legislative approval.
In his announcement, Youngkin called out Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria in particular, accusing those jurisdictions of blocking ICE from detaining and deporting criminals.
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The "Sanctuary Cities Ban" is aimed at making sure local law enforcement and jails work with federal officials to deport criminals who are in the country illegally, the Governor said in a release about his proposal.
"We must prioritize the safety of the citizens of the Commonwealth and stop localities from returning criminals, who entered the country illegally, back out into our communities to potentially commit more crimes," Youngkin said during the Richmond event.
The proposal requires local law enforcement and jail officials to fully comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers, and requires they provide notice to ICE 48 hours prior to the release of an undocumented immigrant who has committed a crime.
If they don't, state funding would be cut off.
Youngkin pointed to the arrest in November of a Honduran man, reportedly in the United States illegally, who was accused of raping a woman in Herndon on the Washington and Old Dominion trail. Court records show the man had been previously arrested and released in both D.C. and Fairfax County.
Youngkin also accused several Northern Virginia jurisdictions of refusing to cooperate with ICE, saying if they don't in the future, they should lose state funding.
"And the type of funds we're talking about are 599 funds," Youngkin said during the Richmond event on Thursday. "There's over $200 million a year in 599 funding that comes from the state to localities, and of course all the funding that from the state to localities to operate local and regional jails."
Senate Majority leader Scott Surovell says ICE already gets notice of anyone who is booked into a local jail, but ICE often doesn't make arrangements to pick them up. He says Youngkin's proposal is all about politics, not about seriously addressing policy concerns.
"I don't feel like our Governor ever got out of campaign mode," Surovell said. "And he's been constantly putting political labels on policy problems like this for a long time now."
"Given the fact that the Governor has already highly politicized this problem, that's not going to do anything to help get anything passed. If he wants to have a real dialog about it, he ought to turn down the temperature and have a real dialog," Surovell said.
The Governor's plan will come to the General Assembly in the form of a budget proposal. The 2025 General Assembly convenes on Jan. 8.
