RICHMOND, Va. — Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday that part of his budget proposal includes a ban on "sanctuary cities" in Virginia.
"I will be introducing no sanctuary cities amendments that will be included in my budget proposals next week," the governor said.
Youngkin said that the proposal also ensures that counties or cities not complying with ICE would not receive state funding.
"They will lose funding from the state. It's that simple. We are protecting Virginians first," he said.
"Sanctuary cities" have laws in place to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation or prosecution over federal law.
WATCH: 'We are protecting Virginians,' Gov. Youngkin says about plan to pull state funding from 'sanctuary cities'
Mayor Levar Stoney signed directives in February 2017 that, in part, ordered Richmond city leadership to "protect and promote policies of inclusion for all of its residents, regardless of their national origin, immigration or refugee status, race, color, creed, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation or sexual identity."
As part of the directives, the mayor made sure the community was aware Richmond police would not inquire about immigration status during encounters in the community.
Stoney confirmed to CBS 6 last month that the directives were still in place. Richmond receives $18.5 million in state funding.
Thursday, Gov. Youngkin said those policies violate his proposal.
The announcement comes the day after Youngkin signed on to a letter with other Republican governors declaring their support for President-elect Trump's immigration plan to address undocumented immigrants, including the use of local law enforcement and the National Guard.
"All of this will enhance public safety," Youngkin said of his proposal. "At the end of the day, we are going to make sure there are consequences for noncompliance because the consequences to Virginians are dire: public safety and even worse, death."
CBS 6 spoke to some Democratic lawmakers about Youngkin's support of Trump's immigration plan before Thursday's funding announcement.
"These are individuals who are trained and responsible for protecting public safety," Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, said. "They have no role to play in immigration issues and nor are they the enforcer of federal immigration policies. And I think it's going to be very harmful to try to move our public safety officials into the realm of immigration concerns."
CBS 6 asked for reaction from Virginians after the governor's announcement. Click here to read more.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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