Just a moment...
boltsmag.org

cross-posted from: https://pawb.social/post/39242993

Virginia’s then-Governor Glenn Youngkin rushed to assist President Trump’s deportation agenda last year, ordering the state agencies under his control to join ICE’s 287(g) program, which gave them the power to make civil immigration arrests. He also pushed local sheriffs and police chiefs to join the program and help round up immigrants.

But his successor, Democrat Abigail Spanberger, put an end to the state’s partnerships with this ICE program on Wednesday, fulfilling a campaign promise to roll back collaboration.

Within hours of taking office on Jan. 17, Spanberger signed an executive order that rescinded Youngkin’s order mandating that state agencies contract with ICE, but that alone left the agreements intact. She went a step further this week by actually pulling the plug and ordering four state agencies, including the state police and the Department of Corrections, to end their 287(g) agreements, terminating their role as force multipliers for federal immigration authorities.

  • xodasu@sh.itjust.works
    12·
    5 hours ago

    Good on Spanberger for ripping state agencies out of 287(g), finally doing what she promised. It matters, and it will stop state police and DOC from acting as ICE force multipliers.

    That said, this is just step one, not the finish line. Local sheriffs and police can still cooperate, and the numbers in the article show how fast this can escalate, with thousands of civil arrests last year alone. Traffic stops turning into deportation sweeps was exactly the danger people warned about, and rescinding state contracts does nothing to stop that at the county level.

    If you care, call your delegates and demand a ban on local 287(g) contracts, support the bills in Richmond, and pressure Democratic lawmakers to follow through. Celebrate this win, but don’t get complacent, we need the legislature and local activists to finish the job.