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Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger broke her relative silence on multiple controversial issues stemming from her first three-plus months in office, claiming the Old Dominion is not a sanctuary state and poking holes in the context surrounding a damning favorability poll.
Spanberger has been under fire for undoing predecessor Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s 287(g) cooperation agreement with the Department of Homeland Security. Multiple heinous crimes have been committed in Virginia, allegedly by illegal immigrants and often under the auspices of sanctuary prosecutors, while she also faces criticism over an April 21 redistricting effort she backed that would draw out all but one Republican congressman.
“Virginia is not a sanctuary state — full stop,” Spanberger said shortly after exiting the Executive Mansion in Richmond.
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there, certainly everything that you might read on Twitter is not real, but it’s actually pretty outrageous some of the things that have been reported along the way,” she said, pointing to her executive order on immigration enforcement cooperation.
HOMAN WARNS SPANBERGER BLOCKING ACCESS TO VIRGINIA JAILS COULD FORCE MORE ICE STREET OPERATIONS: ‘DO THE JOB’
She said her directive was simply for state agencies, including VSP, not to place their troopers under DHS supervision.
“And I feel very strongly about that because [VSP] is a top-notch law enforcement agency. And I don’t think it is responsible for us or me as governor or the Commonwealth of Virginia to put Virginia State Police under the supervision or direction of ICE.”
According to an extant policy in neighboring West Virginia, only participating law enforcement personnel who are nominated, trained, certified, and authorized have the authority to conduct delegated immigration officer functions under a 287(g) agreement. Only then will immigration enforcement functions be carried out under the supervision or direction of…
