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Gov. Glenn Youngkin is preparing to deploy about 60 Virginia National Guard soldiers and airmen to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, intensifying the state’s involvement in federal immigration operations.
Youngkin announced the plan Aug. 8, saying Guard members would handle administrative and logistical duties rather than conduct field enforcement. He said their support would free ICE personnel for other operations.
The Guard members were expected to begin serving at undisclosed locations across Virginia by early September 2025. They will report to ICE leadership at their assigned sites.
The deployment will operate under Title 32, meaning the federal government will fund the mission while the troops remain under Youngkin’s command. A Defense Department authorization covering Guard support for ICE in several states was set to continue through Nov. 15.
Virginia is among six Republican-led states that had activated or authorized Guard personnel for ICE assistance. Florida, Idaho, Iowa, South Dakota and Tennessee had taken similar action, while Nevada, Louisiana and South Carolina were pursuing approval. As of Aug. 15, 2025, no Democratic-led state had reportedly authorized such a deployment.
The move follows Youngkin’s Feb. 27 Executive Order 47, which sought greater cooperation between federal immigration authorities and Virginia’s state and local law-enforcement agencies.
Youngkin described the Guard’s planned role as part of the administration of the Virginia Homeland Security Task Force.
“I support this,” he said. “I think there’s a great opportunity for them to bring their capabilities to the administrative side.”
Civil-rights and immigrant-aid organizations argue that administrative assistance still makes the Guard part of the federal deportation system.
Mary Bauer, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, rejected Youngkin’s distinction between supporting ICE and performing its work. She said assigning Guard members to immigration enforcement could undermine the force’s central mission and argued that the governor has a responsibility to represent all Virginians, including immigrants.
The Tahirih Justice Center, which operates an office in Falls Church and provides legal assistance to immigrant survivors of violence, also opposed the deployment. The organization said involving the Guard in federal immigration enforcement would heighten fear and hostility in immigrant communities.
“Forcing servicemembers of the Virginia National Guard to aid the deportation process of their own neighbors” is abhorrent, Public Policy Manager Alex Goyette said, particularly when deportation proceedings violate constitutional due-process protections.
The decision comes as Fairfax County has emerged as a major center of increased ICE activity in Virginia. Data from the UC Berkeley Deportation Data Project indicated that ICE arrests in the county had doubled since the presidential inauguration, with a significant share involving people without criminal convictions.
Despite the state’s effort to expand cooperation, Fairfax County officials say their existing policies have not changed. After reports that ICE agents were arresting immigrants at the Fairfax County Courthouse, a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said the agency does not participate in ICE arrests.
The courthouse is a public building, the spokesperson said, and federal officers—including agents from ICE, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration—may enter after securing their firearms in a locker.
The Sheriff’s Office also said it will not keep someone in custody beyond the person’s release date solely because of an ICE detainer request. Continued detention requires a judicial warrant.