Youngkin to draft sanctuary city ban, making state funding contingent on ICE cooperation

EXCLUSIVE: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will introduce a budget proposal banning “sanctuary cities” in his state, along with ensuring tax money will not go to counties or independent cities that aren’t complying with ICE.

The proposal will require local police and corrections officers to fulfill Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests for criminal illegal immigrants and notify the federal government within two days of releasing any such person who matriculates through the justice system.

Additionally, any municipality that identifies as a sanctuary city or enacts similar policies will have state funding typically allocated toward supporting their police departments withheld by Richmond.

The Department of Criminal Justice Services, currently led by Youngkin appointee and former Prince William County Officer Jackson Miller, will be advised to withhold what is called “599 Funding” in that regard.

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“Criminals who are in the United States illegally will be turned over to ICE,” Youngkin told Fox News Digital on Thursday. 

“We must stop the cycle of violence and crime that is being enabled by some local governments. Virginia is not a sanctuary state, and we must be clear that we will not allow localities to become ‘sanctuary cities.'”

The Republican governor, who is term-limited next year under Virginia’s one-and-done policy, said that if local governments “pander to pro-illegal immigrant groups,” they’ll see the state-taxpayer assistance spigot turned off.

The news comes amid recent violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants in Virginia, most recently the sexual assault of a jogger on a popular Herndon rail-trail.

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Honduran national Denis Humberto Navarette-Romero was charged with intent to defile and rape a woman on the Old Dominion Trail. The Washington, D.C., suburb’s police chief said it was the first stranger-rape case in her 12 years on the job.

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Critics pointed to Fairfax County’s sanctuary-type policies as Navarette-Romero had been previously arrested for auto theft and indecent exposure.

In 2018, Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid notified ICE her office will no longer hold inmates past release dates unless an administrative request to hold the suspects is accompanied by a legal criminal detainer.

Kincaid told WJLA earlier this year her department requires such a warrant, after ICE officials criticized a lack of cooperation with Virginia’s largest county by-population.

Only three of 725 “undocumented individuals” in Fairfax custody between July 2023 and July 2024 were transferred to ICE, the outlet reported.

Also in November, Arlington County’s board voted 4-1 in favor of a policy stipulating police may only notify ICE in cases involving gang members and very serious crimes, according to ArlNow.

The vote came as activists chanted “ICE Out Of Arlington!”

Alexandria, an independent city, initiated a policy in 2007 stating it would not inquire about citizenship “beyond what is required by state and federal law.”

In 2017, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney responded to President Trump’s immigration policies by ordering the city’s police department not to consent to participate in ICE collaboration agreements and not to inquire about citizenship status “in the interest of public safety.”

Virginia officials have said the state Department of Corrections has always and continues to recognize ICE detainers during Youngkin’s tenure.

Incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan has repeatedly pledged a “mass deportation” initiative and similarly warned sanctuary cities he will use the might of the federal government to enforce compliance with the law.