A group of House Republicans want future spending bills to withhold funds for "sanctuary cities" that have policies designed to shelter illegal immigrants.

Forty-two GOP lawmakers signed a letter to House appropriators who oversee funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department to prevent any money from going toward localities that protect immigrants from deportation.

The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Paul Gosar Paul Anthony GosarPelosi must go — the House is in dire need of new leadership LWCF modernization: Restoring the promise Trump tweets his people have all left Drudge MORE (R-Ariz.), cited the murder of Kate Steinle last year in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant who had a history of felony convictions and had been deported multiple times.

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"A nation of laws must enforce established law, not seek ways to skirt enforcement. Sanctuary cities defy federal immigration laws by harboring untold numbers of illegal immigrants and providing safe havens for criminals, many of whom are violent offenders," the lawmakers wrote.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons had transferred the suspect in the Steinle shooting, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, to the San Francisco Police Department for an outstanding warrant related to drug charges. But San Francisco authorities decided to release him despite a request to detain him until Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could take over his case.

More than 200 state and local jurisdictions have "sanctuary city" policies that limit compliance with ICE requests to detain illegal immigrants, according to the agency's director, Sarah Saldaña. Localities often implement such approaches as a means of encouraging illegal immigrants to work with police and report crimes without fear of deportation.

The House passed legislation a few weeks after Steinle's death last July that would withhold certain law enforcement grants from sanctuary cities. Democrats later blocked similar a similar measure in the Senate.

The House Appropriations Committee has not yet advanced either of the spending bills for DHS or the Justice Department. Earlier this week, a subcommittee approved the first 2017 appropriations measure of the year for the Department of Veterans' Affairs and military construction projects.

Yet it's unclear whether any of the 12 individual appropriations bills will make it to the House floor this year due to the ongoing impasse between Republicans over passing a budget. Conservative fiscal hawks want to slash spending, while others in the party remain adamant that the appropriations process will go nowhere if Republicans don't adhere to last year's bipartisan budget deal.