As the 2018 veto session for the General Assembly has ended, the 51-member Republican majority found it nearly impossible to garner support from House Democrats to secure the 67 votes needed to override any of Governor Northam’s vetos. One of the most contentious items that was recently struck down by Northam was a bill set to ban the establishment of sanctuary cities in the Commonwealth. Even though Republicans failed gather votes to override the governor’s decision, that did not stop one lawmaker from putting up a fight.
The Washington Post reports that an last-ditch effort was still put up against the bill that would have disallowed any Virginia locality to adopt any “ordinance, procedure, or policy” that restricted the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
Delegate Ben Cline (R-Rockbridge), the lawmaker who originally introduced the measure in the House, referenced a situation when localities interfered with federal immigration officials.
During a recent Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were not allowed to speak on immigration-related issues. Furthermore, Cline said that several supervisors asked the county police chief and sheriff to ensure that ICE agents are not able to easily arrest anyone who is not already the target of a criminal investigation.
“That is actively interfering with the enforcement of federal immigration law,” Cline said according to the report. “Those who would say we don’t have sanctuary cities in the Commonwealth, well, we certainly seem to have a problem with sanctuary policies.”
After vetoing the legislation last week, Northam explained that 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.
The 51-to-48 party-line vote fell well short of the 67 needed to override Northam’s veto.
“The governor has continuously changed his position on this important issue, but it appears he has once again caved to the extreme left of his party,” Cline said in a recent statement.
