by Sean Jones
Gov. Abigail Spanberger moved swiftly on immigration policy in her opening slate of executive orders, rescinding a directive from her Republican predecessor that expanded Virginia’s cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The order repeals former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order 47, which required the Virginia State Police and the Virginia Department of Corrections to enter into 287(g) agreements with ICE. The order also encouraged local police and sheriffs to do the same.
Repealing Executive Order 47 does not terminate existing 287(g) agreements. Under their terms, the agreements remain in effect until they are suspended or terminated by either party.
Spanberger’s executive order argues that the policy diverted limited law-enforcement resources away from core public safety functions.
It reads: “This executive order rescinds Executive Order 47, which requires and encourages state and local law enforcement to divert their limited resources for use in enforcing federal civil immigration laws,” the order states. “Ensuring public safety in Virginia requires state and local law enforcement to be focused on their core responsibilities of investigating and deterring criminal activity, staffing jails, and community engagement.”
Under 287(g) agreements, state and local law-enforcement agencies — including sheriffs’ offices and police departments — are authorized to carry out limited federal immigration enforcement duties under ICE supervision. Those functions can include identifying people in jail who may be subject to deportation, serving certain administrative immigration warrants on people already in custody, and, in some cases, deputizing officers with limited ICE authority during routine law-enforcement work.
According to ICE’s website, there are currently 32 active 287(g) agreements in Virginia involving local governments, state agencies and correctional facilities. Five of those agreements are with state agencies, while the remainder involve local law-enforcement agencies.
Spanberger previewed the move in her inaugural remarks on Saturday, emphasizing her administration’s approach to immigrant communities.
“Our hardworking, law-abiding, immigrant neighbors will know that when we say that we will focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors, we mean them too,” Spanberger said.
Youngkin’s original order declared that “Virginia is not a sanctuary state” and argued that the “nexus between illegal immigration and dangerous criminal activity is real.” The policy drew condemnation from immigrant-rights groups and the ACLU of Virginia, while Democratic lawmakers criticized it as a misallocation of resources that undermined trust between communities and law enforcement.
House Republican Leader Terry Kilgore said the decision to end 287(g) agreements for state police would make Virginia less safe.
“This decision allows criminal illegal immigrants to remain in our communities and commit crimes over and over again by shielding them from cooperation with federal law enforcement,” Kilgore said. “That is not public safety — it is reckless.”
Former Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares said the move was a “disaster for public safety.”
“Mark my words, there will be Virginians who will be robbed, raped and murdered as a result of this anti public safety executive order. No one should be surprised,” Miyares posted on X.
Mary Bauer, executive director for the ACLU of Virginia, said Spanberger’s executive order was a good start but that she now must end 287(g) agreements between state agencies and ICE.
“It is not the job of Virginia’s law enforcement agencies to carry out the Trump administration’s brutal and fear-based anti-immigrant agenda,” Bauer said. “(Spanberger’s) executive order recognizes that blurring the line between Virginia law enforcement and federal immigration agents not only diverts Virginia resources away from public safety priorities, but erodes public trust by terrorizing communities and breaking apart families.