On her very first day in office, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger wasted no time sending a clear message — and it wasn’t one about public safety. Spanberger repealed an executive order that required state and local law enforcement to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), effectively gutting a policy designed to link criminal enforcement with federal immigration law.
“This Executive Order rescinds Executive Order 47,” Spanberger said, arguing that state and local law enforcement should not be required to help enforce federal civil immigration laws. According to the new governor, that responsibility belongs solely to federal authorities, while Virginia officers should focus on “investigating crime and community policing.” That sounds nice — right up until you ask who’s supposed to deal with criminal illegal aliens already in custody.
As Breitbart News previously reported, former Governor Glenn Youngkin signed Executive Order 47 in February 2025, directing the Virginia State Police and Department of Corrections to enter into Section 287(g) agreements with ICE. Those agreements allow trained local officers to work directly with ICE, ensuring that local arrests are properly linked to federal immigration enforcement.
The order also required the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to certify that local and regional jail authorities were fully cooperating with ICE and participating in the Section 287(g) task force. In plain English: criminals don’t get released back onto the streets just because Washington bureaucracy didn’t get the memo.
The federal 287(g) program trains and authorizes local police to coordinate arrests with ICE — a common-sense tool designed to enhance public safety, not undermine it. But under Spanberger’s new directive, that coordination is now out the window.
Her executive order claims that since 2025, Virginians have been “deprived of critical public safety resources” because law enforcement was supposedly forced to divert attention toward immigration enforcement. That framing conveniently ignores the reality that removing dangerous illegal aliens from communities is a public safety function.
Spanberger made her intentions clear even before the election. In an interview with the Virginia Mercury last November, she confirmed that if elected, she would rescind Youngkin’s order requiring cooperation with ICE. While admitting that the immigration system is “absolutely broken,” she argued it was a “misuse” of resources for local officers to assist in identifying and apprehending illegal aliens.
She went further, claiming that helping ICE would “tear families apart,” calling it inappropriate to involve local sheriffs and police officers in immigration enforcement. Emotional language aside, the result is straightforward: fewer tools for law enforcement and more protection for those who shouldn’t be here in the first place.
Once again, Democrats are choosing ideology over enforcement and rhetoric over results. President Trump has long emphasized that strong borders and cooperation between agencies are essential to public safety. Weakening that cooperation on day one sends the wrong signal — to law-abiding Virginians and to criminals alike.
The upside? Moves like this make the contrast unmistakably clear. One side believes in enforcing the law and protecting communities. The other believes in excuses. And as more Americans see the real-world consequences of these policies, support for strong, pro-law enforcement leadership will only continue to grow.
