RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) took additional steps Wednesday to distance state law enforcement agencies from federal immigration operations, ordering the end of partnership agreements and condemning federal operations in other states as undermining public confidence.
“Sadly, the bad tactics, the bad training, the bad vetting that we have seen … in places like Minnesota — that is degrading trust in law enforcement,” Spanberger told reporters in a brief news conference.
One of her first acts after being sworn in Jan. 17 was to issue an executive order rescinding an action by her predecessor, former governor Glenn Youngkin (R), that required state law enforcement agencies to enter into 287(g) agreements with federal immigration authorities. Those agreements deputize state officials to conduct federal immigration enforcement.
On Wednesday, Spanberger directed the state police as well as corrections officials and other state agencies to cancel any such agreements. She noted that the language of a 287(g) requires state agencies to work “under the supervision or direction” of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“As governor, I think that [state officials] should be working under … the leadership within their agencies. And so that’s a clear delineation,” Spanberger said at the news conference.
Virginia joins a growing number of states pushing back against ICE operations, particularly since federal personnel shot and killed two U.S. citizens last month in Minnesota amid the surge in immigration enforcement under the administration of President Donald Trump. The Maryland General Assembly on Tuesday passed legislation that would ban 287(g) agreements, and legislatures in Hawaii, New Mexico and New York are also considering bans.
Republican lawmakers in Richmond have been warning that Spanberger’s stance, as well as various anti-ICE measures making their way through the General Assembly, would harm Virginians. On Wednesday, House Minority Leader Terry G. Kilgore (R-Scott) said in a statement that the governor’s latest action “weakens public safety and cuts off cooperation that helped law enforcement remove dangerous criminals from our communities.”
Spanberger — a former CIA operative and federal postal inspector — said she believes in cooperation among local, state and federal authorities when it comes to law enforcement, and said Virginia officials should always be ready to assist in cases where there is a judicial warrant calling for an arrest.
But she distinguished that from the civil enforcement of immigration law, saying that that is a matter for federal agencies and that local or state involvement causes communities to become afraid to call for help when they need it.
Spanberger also issued an executive order to clarify what she said are the principles and policies that should continue to guide state law enforcement, including protecting human life, upholding the Constitution, promoting public safety, preventing crime and not engaging in “fear-based policing [or] enforcement theater.”
She said her administration had researched 287(g) activities under Youngkin — who sometimes appeared with Trump officials to tout roundups of undocumented immigrants — and found that the amount of time spent by Virginia State Police on those efforts was “minimal.” She added that rather than make Virginians less safe, the pullback would enhance troopers’ ability to respond to emergencies or carry out regular law enforcement.
Luis Aguilar, Virginia director of the immigrant rights group CASA, issued a statement praising Spanberger and saying that the previous stepped-up enforcement actions had been “devastating.”
“Victims of domestic violence, wage theft, and other crimes have been afraid to call police for help. Children have lost parents. Communities have lost trust,” Aguilar said in the statement. “Today, we are so proud to see Virginia join a growing number of states that are beginning to heal from that damage.”
Asked if she had concerns that her actions would provoke the Trump administration to target the state for more ICE activities, Spanberger said she had not communicated about it with the White House or seen anything on social media. “But taking Virginia law enforcement — state agency personnel — and basically giving them over to ICE is something that ends today,” she said.
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