A bill banning sanctuary cities in Virginia is back on the desk of Governor Ralph Northam (D) after he vetoed similar legislation in April 2018. S.B. 1156, patroned by State Senator Dick Black (R-Loudoun), would prohibit any locality from adopting any ordinance, procedure, or policy that restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
The measure is identical to last year’s H.B. 1257, which failed to become law.
Although Governor Northam supported similar measures during his 2017 gubernatorial campaign, he quickly sided with the progressive bloc of the Democratic Party in denouncing the legislation, calling it “unnecessary.”
Northam released a statement in tandem with his veto of the bill after last year’s legislative session, explaining the measure would “force” local law enforcement officials and agencies to allocate resources to the functions that belong to the federal government, and that immigration law is not the responsibility of Virginia localities.
“It also sends a chilling message to communities across Virginia that could have negative impacts on public safety,” he said according to The Washington Post.
However, the bill banning sanctuary cities in the Commonwealth could be given new life after a recent incident in Northern Virginia.
Prince George County law enforcement officers arrested five people, including two teenagers, connected to the gruesome murder of 16-year-old Jacson Pineda-Chicas of Falls Church, Virginia, last weekend. WTOP reports that the teenage boy was stabbed 100 times during a group attack inside the home of a suspected MS-13 gang leader in Landover Hills, Maryland, before the body was dumped in a remote area of Stafford County, Virginia, and set on fire.
Police stated they took into custody suspected gang leader 29-year-old Jose Ordonez-Zometa; Jonathan Castillo-Rivera, 20, of Annandale, Virginia; 18-year-old Kevin Rodriguez-Flores; 16-year-old Christian Martinez-Ramirez, of Falls Church; and 25-year-old Jose Hernandez-Garcia.
All suspects have been charged with first-degree murder.
Major Brian Reilly, the commander of the Prince George County Police Department’s criminal investigation division, said Pineda-Chicas was also a member of the gang who traveled with other members to their leader’s Landover Hills home on March 8 for a meeting. Authorities have yet to confirm a motive for the alleged murder, but Jacson’s mother, who has not been identified for safety reasons, told NBC 4 Washington that her son previously told her he was being bullied and threatened by his peers after saying he wanted to leave the El Salvador-based gang.
Police said the MS-13 clique involved in the killing operates out of Fairfax County, Virginia, but their leader lived in Prince George County.
As transnational gangs like MS-13 continue to plague the Northern Virginia area with horrific crimes, it is not legislation like banning sanctuary cities that “have negative impacts on public safety,” but the fact that there are none.
Governor Northam has until March 26 to act on the bill.
