Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., announced Thursday afternoon she was a co-sponsor along with 19 Senate colleagues of the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act.

The bill, whose lead sponsor is Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, clarifies that state and local law enforcement officials are permitted to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security in enforcing the Immigration and Nationality Act.

DHS oversees the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, which includes the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The bill also would punish sanctuary cities by making them ineligible for federal grants and funds, including Community Development Block Grants. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, sanctuary cities are defined as any local government entity that has laws or ordinances in place to obstruct enforcement of federal immigration laws or prohibit cooperation with federal officials.

“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,” Capito said in a statement. “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.”

The Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act has been introduced in the U.S. Senate every year over the last several years. The bill was introduced last year by former Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, but it was never taken up by the Senate Democratic majority.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, officers had more than 250,000 encounters with illegal border crossers in December, breaking previous records for the last 12 months and the average number of encounters for fiscal years 2013-2020 of 43,447.

The West Virginia Legislature passed a similar law during the 2023 session that ended in March. House Bill 2008 was signed by Gov. Jim Justice on March 29.

HB 2008 requires local entities to enforce federal immigration laws. The bill would prohibit local governments from adopting ordinances, resolutions, rules, regulations, or policies that would prohibit the enforcement of immigration laws.

The House bill also creates a complaint procedure for federal immigration authorities or citizens to notify the Attorney General’s Office of non-compliance by local governments and institutions with the law, allowing for suits to be filed against the local government. The amendment prohibits state funds from going to local governments, state agencies, or other public entities in non-compliance. Local officials could also be removed from office for non-compliance.

No counties or cities in West Virginia have been identified as sanctuaries for illegal immigrants according to committee testimony on HB 2008.