BATON ROUGE - A bid to criminalize jurisdictions that don't follow federal immigration law has advanced in the House, and turned lawmakers' attention to New Orleans.

The bill by Rep. Valarie Hodges, a Denham Springs Republican, targets so-called "sanctuary cities" - jurisdictions that don't enforce immigration law without court order.

Attorney General Jeff Landry advocated for the proposal, saying such cities invite terrorists and cause financial, legal and medical concerns.

Hodges' bill would keep those municipalities from getting approval from the state for borrowing money. That could stall items like construction projects.

The House Judiciary Committee approved the measure Thursday for full House debate.

Lawmakers debated whether it would promote racial profiling or unfairly penalize cities under federal consent decrees. But no one objected to the bill's advancement.