ARLINGTON, Va. (7News) — On Saturday, Gov. Abigail Spanberger fulfilled one of her campaign promises by ending Virginia’s cooperation with federal immigration officials.
Immigration advocates are celebrating Spanberger’s move, but Republicans say this will make Virginia less safe.
SEE ALSO | Read newly sworn-in Gov. Spanberger’s first speech
A short time after taking the oath of office, Spanberger undid Glenn Youngkin’s executive order that ordered state police and corrections officers to work with ICE and help arrest and deport illegal immigrants with criminal records.
“State and local law enforcement officers must be able to focus on their core responsibilities, investigating crime and community policing,” Spanberger said.
Immigration advocates like CASA celebrated Spanberger’s decision. The group said Youngkin’s initiative fueled fear, racial profiling, and family separation in communities like Prince William County, which has thousands of Central American families.
“State and local law enforcement should not be required to divert their limited resources to enforce federal civil immigration laws,” Spanberger said.
RELATED | Gov. Spanberger rescinds Gov. Youngkin’s order deputizing state police to work with ICE
Spanberger used the word “civil” in her description of federal immigration laws. By using that description, Republican State Sen. Tara Durant said Spanberger is downplaying the danger.
“It’s frankly offensive,” Durant said. “You talk to any family or any victim of any of these serious crimes, whether it’s his children (who) have been raped, or anyone that’s suffered at the hands of an illegal immigrant that’s committing violent crimes. They would beg to differ on that terminology. The bottom line is what is the outcome that Virginians want? They want safe communities. They want to be able to allow their children to go to the local parks. And I’ve already had constituents in my community, in Stafford, that are expressing concerns now about what they’re seeing. So ask any family, any victim about that, and they’ll beg to differ on that terminology. I think that’s playing semantics. And again, what we care about is keeping our community safe. That’s the bottom line. That’s what matters.”
Republican House Leader Terry Kilgore predicts Spanberger’s decision will lead to a surge in crime.
“We know how it is in Northern Virginia with some of our prosecutors out there who want to look the other way and coddle criminals,” Kilgore said. “Folks need to be able to walk their street at night without fear of being either shot or kidnapped or raped. It’s a wrong way to move with public safety in Virginia. When Gov. Youngkin had the agreement, we were able to catch all those MS 13 gang members up in Northern Virginia. If we’re not cooperating with ICE, folks are going to get harmed in Virginia.”
Youngkin’s directive was in effect for close to a year, and it came after an illegal immigrant allegedly attacked and raped a woman on the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail in Herndon, an illegal immigrant killed a college student in a car crash, and another illegal immigrant sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl.
And just last month, when the Fairfax County sheriff ignored an ICE detainer and released an illegal immigrant back into the community, the accused MS 13 gang member allegedly murdered a man the day after he was released.
When 7News rode along with ICE last year, we saw State Police troopers on missions to locate, capture and deport illegal immigrants who were charged with violent crimes and released back into Fairfax, Arlington and Prince William counties.
See Glenn Youngkin discuss his time in office below:
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Youngkin said his initiative took violent criminals off the streets.
“We arrested the number three guy in MS 13, we have attacked the gang infrastructure and made arrests that have made it much harder for gangs to operate and distribute drugs in Virginia, and those collaborations are critical,” Youngkin said.
