Law enforcement across West Virginia would be required to notify federal immigration officers about any person they’ve identified as an immigrant lacking permanent legal status, according to a bill passed Monday in the Senate.
Republican senators’ unanimous approval of legislation comes as federal judges have recently said that Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers wrongly jailed multiple immigrant detainees in West Virginia.
Sen. Patricia Rucker, a native of Venezuela, said the bill showed clear support for legal immigration and law enforcement who are carrying immigration duties.
Rucker, R-Jefferson, noted that she was the only member of the Senate who was an immigrant.
“I came here legally following the law,” she said on the Senate floor. “I never once had any problems with law enforcement or questions that made me feel uncomfortable.”
She continued, “If we do not enforce the rule of law, what we’re doing here in this chamber is a waste of time.”
Senate Bill 615 is only three short paragraphs, and the bill is less than one page in length.
The measure says when “an individual has been determined to be in the United States illegally by a law- enforcement agency in this state … the law- enforcement agency shall notify and cooperate with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the United States Department of Homeland Security to the full extent authorized under federal and state law.”
The bill passed 32-2 with both Democratic senators voting no.
Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion said the bill’s lack of definition left him with questions about how it would play out across West Virginia with local law enforcement, immigrants and citizens.
He noted the rulings from federal judges where they’d thrown out West Virginia immigration cases because the people detained were denied due process following their ICE arrests. The judges ordered that the immigrants involved in the cases be immediately removed from the state’s jails where they’d been held.
“When asked at some of these hearings, what was the probable cause, what was the reason for their arrest, those immigration officials came forward and they did not have the evidence. And this is happening over and over again,” Garcia said. “What do we do to help with this situation? We are going to muck it up even more.”
Senate Judiciary Chairman Tom Willis, R-Berkeley, said that the bill was to ensure West Virginia law enforcement cooperate with federal immigration policies amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“There’s a lot of chaos and disorder and lawlessness, refusal to cooperate with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. And this is just saying that moving forward, there’s no question West Virginia is going to be a state of law and order, safety and security,” Willis said.
In an interview after the measure passed, Willis said the federal judges’ recent rulings about unlawfully detained immigrants in West Virginia was irrelevant to the bill.
“It doesn’t encourage any violation of existing legal protections for those who were detained or arrested,” he said.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey has given law enforcement the option of joining ICE’s 287(g) program, which allows designated law enforcement officers to interrogate people on their immigration status during routine police duties.
ICE will reimburse participating agencies for their involvement, including paying the annual salary and benefits of each officer in the 287(g) program, MetroNews reported.
The state’s jails are also receiving money from the ICE partnership; they’re paid $90 a day for each ICE detainee.
More than 600 undocumented immigrants were arrested during ICE enforcement operations across West Virginia at the end of January as federal judges began looking into the legality of those arrests.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston ordered the release of Frezgi Kelete Mehari, a national of Eritrea, from South Central Regional Jail, which is overcrowded.
Johnston noted that Mehari, who came to the country unlawfully, had no criminal record or gang affiliations and had voluntarily attended deportation hearings.
“Petitioner is entitled to a bond hearing … but has not received one despite being detained since Jan. 13, 2026. Such a delay is a violation of (Mehari’s) due process rights,” he wrote.
This article originally appeared on West Virginia Watch.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.
