Richmond, Virginia — On Tuesday, Glenn Youngkin took a break from vetoing 158 pieces of progressive legislation to threaten localities who declare themselves “sanctuary cities” by removing their funding for law enforcement. Youngkin first threatened to defund local police departments over disagreements on immigration in December, when he proposed a budget amendment that would allow him to remove funding for first responders in alleged “sanctuary cities.” Because of the Dillon Rule, no locality in Virginia is permitted to declare itself a sanctuary city, and no localities in Virginia are formally designated as such. In the absence of those formal designations, Governor Youngkin has re-proposed an amendment to strip state funding from cities and counties that do not cooperate with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as robustly as he would like, a murky and extralegal definition of what would constitute a sanctuary policy. 

“Glenn Youngkin is taking a page from his mentor Donald Trump’s book, and attempting to use state funding as a weapon to enact his unpopular, inhumane political agenda,” said LaTwyla Mathias, Executive Director of Progress Virginia. “Unfortunately for Governor Youngkin, we still abide by the democratic process here in Virginia, and local leaders are allowed to set policy that keeps their community safe, strong, and respectful of the needs of their constituents. Immigrants are part of our community, and we do not want to see our friends and neighbors harassed by a federal agency that is acting outside the bounds of the law and the Constitution. Whatever Governor Youngkin’s views on immigration may be, he does not get to dictate policy with a sledgehammer: we are a broad, diverse Commonwealth and we have elected state legislators, Boards of Supervisors, and City Councils that represent the will of the people more fully for this exact reason. In concert with our elected officials, we will fight back against this ridiculous proclamation and make sure that this amendment does not work its way into our budget.”