'Fake Moderate’ Democratic governor demands local police cut ties with ICE

A newly elected blue-state governor took steps on Wednesday to terminate state and local law enforcement agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

'Now Fake Moderate Spanberger is attempting to turn Virginia into a sanctuary jurisdiction like her socialist friends in New York and California by banning state and local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.'

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D), a former federal law enforcement officer, issued an executive order establishing new state law enforcement policies based on “principles and policies that have long served as the north star for Virginia law enforcement.”

A press release from Spanberger’s office contended that law enforcement “exists to preserve human life” and emphasized that “public trust is a prerequisite to effective policing.”

“Virginia law enforcement does not engage in fear-based policing, enforcement theater, or actions that create barriers to people seeking assistance in their time of need,” it read.

As such, Spanberger’s administration stated that it will review all of law enforcement’s current policies and training to ensure they align with these standards.

“As a former federal law enforcement officer and the daughter of a career law enforcement officer, I know that effective policing is built on trust. Like so many of Virginia’s law enforcement officers, I have serious concerns that chaotic federal law enforcement actions across the country are eroding years of trust built by our officers within the communities they serve,” Spanberger stated. “When state and local law enforcement are pulled away from investigating crimes and upholding our Virginia laws to do the job of federal agents, it weakens their ability to deepen trust within their communities. This contributes to a culture of fear and distrust that makes it harder for officers to do their jobs.”

“Today, Virginia is taking important steps to both reaffirm the core responsibilities of our officers and help build public trust in Virginians who wear the badge,” she added.

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Abigail Spanberger. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Through a separate executive directive announced on the same day, Spanberger declared that state law enforcement agencies are required to terminate all existing 287(g) agreements with ICE, arguing that these arrangements “placed Virginia law enforcement officers under federal control and supervision to conduct civil immigration enforcement.”

ICE’s 287(g) agreements authorize the agency to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under the supervision of ICE.

There are currently more than 30 law enforcement agencies in Virginia that have agreements with ICE, according to the agency’s website. The majority of those agreements, over two dozen, fall under the 287(g) program’s “Task Force Model,” which allows local officers to exercise “limited immigration authority,” including identifying immigrants during a DUI checkpoint and sharing information with ICE.

“Governor Spanberger said her administration has been closely reviewing agreements state law enforcement agencies were required to sign in 2025. These agreements forced Virginia law enforcement agencies to hand over their men and women to be supervised by ICE,” her office wrote.

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Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

The Republican Party of Virginia reacted to Spanberger’s latest directive, stating, “From her very first hours in office, Abigail Spanberger has shamefully smeared and defamed the brave men and women of ICE while launching bad-faith attacks on their efforts to identify, arrest, and deport violent criminal illegal aliens.”

“Now Fake Moderate Spanberger is attempting to turn Virginia into a sanctuary jurisdiction like her socialist friends in New York and California by banning state and local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities,” the statement continued. “Virginians deserve leaders who will use every available resource to arrest and prosecute violent criminals. Instead, Abigail Spanberger is putting Virginians in danger by shielding criminals from accountability to virtue signal to the left-wing mob. She should be ashamed of herself.”

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