MORGANTOWN — In March, the state Legislature passed a bill (HB 2008) to prohibit sanctuary cities from springing up across the state.
Now, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito has joined with other Senate Republicans to reintroduce a similar bill at the federal level.
It’s called the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act. It would allow local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities and would pull taxpayer-funded grants to sanctuary cities.
Capito said, “Our country welcomes individuals from around the world who want to be a part of our country, but we expect everyone to follow the rule of law and obtain residency or citizenship through the legal process. Our laws must be enforced as written, and any city that chooses not to enforce federal immigration laws should not be allowed to use federal funds to support their liberal activist efforts to undermine law and order.”
HB 2008, which takes effect June 9, says no local government or law enforcement agency may adopt or maintain a law or policy that prohibits or materially restricts complying with or assisting in the enforcement of immigration laws.
This includes, among other things: prohibitions or restrictions on inquiries into the immigration status of any person; obtaining or transmitting information relating to immigration status of a person; complying with an immigration detainer; complying with a request from a federal immigration agency to notify the agency before the release of an inmate; and assisting or cooperating with a federal immigration agency, including by providing enforcement assistance.
The bill says each county jail or municipal jail shall enter into an agreement or agreements with a federal immigration agency for temporarily housing persons who are the subject of immigration detainers and for the payment of the costs of housing and detaining them.
Elected officials who violate the law can be removed from office. The state attorney general is authorized to defend good-faith compliance with the law.
Where the state bill lists prohibitions, the Senate bill is permissive. It says a state, local government or state or local official who complies with a detainer issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security shall be deemed to be acting as an agent of the DHS and shall have all authority available to DHS officers and employees.
It says the state and local governments have no liability in legal challenges to detainers issued.
And it says grant funds authorized under the affected federal code section may not be used to provide assistance to a sanctuary jurisdiction.
Sen. Joe Manchin was traveling overseas on Thursday and not available for comment. His press office shared his comments from 2018 when he co-sponsored with Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., an amendment to an immigration bill that would end sanctuary city policies by withholding certain non-law enforcement federal grant funds from sanctuary cities that forbid their local law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration officials.
Manchin said at the time, “Allowing cities to flaunt the rule of law sets a dangerous precedent, and worse, these policies prevent us from finding and deporting criminals and convicted felons who are re-entering the country illegally. I have repeatedly voted in support of legislation that would hold sanctuary cities accountable and I am proud to join my colleagues on this amendment to uphold the rule of law.”
TWEET David Beard @dbeardtdp
EMAIL dbeard@dominionpost.com
