Virginia Governor Directs State Police, Corrections Officers to Cooperate With ICE

Gov. Glenn Youngkin also directed local and regional jails to cooperate. His actions follow similar moves by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks at the 2024 Road to Majority Conference in Washington on June 22, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Feb. 27 issued an executive order that directs state police and corrections officers to assist federal immigration enforcement.

The executive order deputizes state law enforcement to support President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

“As governor, protecting our citizens is my foremost responsibility, and today we are taking action that will make Virginia safer by removing dangerous criminal illegal immigrants from our Commonwealth,” Youngkin said in a statement. “Dangerous criminal illegal immigrants should not be let back into our communities to assault, rape and murder. They should be sent back where they came from.”

The order directs the Virginia State Police and the Department of Corrections to sign agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A state police task force of federally deputized troopers will also be created to help identify and apprehend criminal illegal immigrants who pose a risk to public safety.

The governor also directed local and regional jails to cooperate with the task force.

On the 2024 presidential campaign trail, Trump promised the largest deportation efforts in U.S. history.

Since Trump’s taking office, ICE agents and other federal authorities have conducted targeted operations across the country.

In just one month, ICE arrested more than 20,000 illegal immigrants, compared to 33,000 in the entire year of 2023 under former President Joe Biden. This marks a 627 percent increase in monthly arrests compared to this period last year, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Vice President JD Vance praised the governor’s move.

“Awesome,” Vance wrote in a post on social media platform X.

Youngkin’s executive order follows similar actions taken by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Earlier this month, DeSantis signed a sweeping package of immigration laws aimed at carrying out Trump’s policies targeting illegal immigration.

Meanwhile, not all states have cooperated.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi recently announced that the Department of Justice is suing the state of New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and state Attorney General Letitia James over immigration enforcement.

The DOJ was targeting the state’s “Green Light Law” that allows New Yorkers to get driver’s licenses without having to prove their legal status. In response, Hochul said her state will not back down.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom approved legislation that uses taxpayer dollars to bolster the state’s legal defenses against the Trump administration’s policies and immigration enforcement.

The legislation dedicates $25 million for the California Department of Justice to fight court battles against the federal government and another $25 million for legal groups to defend immigrants facing possible deportation.

From NTD News