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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ordered state police and corrections officials to expand cooperation with federal immigration authorities, drawing sharp criticism from immigrant advocates and prompting a policy review by the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office.
Youngkin signed Executive Order 47 on Feb. 27, directing Virginia State Police to pursue an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The partnership would establish a task force of deputized troopers authorized to help identify and arrest undocumented people considered public-safety risks.
The order also instructs the Virginia Department of Corrections to negotiate an agreement permitting state detention and processing facilities to be used for immigration enforcement. Trained corrections officers could be designated to perform immigration duties.
Virginia’s secretary of public safety and homeland security must also contact sheriffs and other officials overseeing local and regional jails to request certification that they will cooperate fully with ICE and the proposed state police task force.
State police are taking steps to comply, and an agreement with ICE is being developed, according to an agency spokesperson.
Virginia State Police Superintendent Col. Matthew D. Hanley said the agency’s mission is to maintain a secure commonwealth and that it frequently works with other agencies on the governor’s violent-crime initiatives.
Fairfax reviews potential impact
The proposed partnerships would operate through ICE’s 287(g) program, named for a section of federal law adopted in 1996. The program allows ICE to enter voluntary agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies to help identify, detain and deport undocumented immigrants.
Youngkin’s request for full cooperation from local jails could conflict with the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office’s policy of honoring court-approved warrants but not ICE administrative detainers or requests.
The sheriff’s office entered an ICE agreement in 2012 that allowed people to be held for as long as 48 hours beyond their scheduled release based on an administrative request. Sheriff Stacey Kincaid ended that arrangement effective May 23, 2018, after immigrant-rights organizations argued that the additional detention was unconstitutional.
Kathryn Pavluchuk, the office’s general counsel, said officials are reviewing the new executive order.
“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office has always followed, and will continue to follow all local, state, and federal laws,” Pavluchuk said.
Youngkin issued the directive days after receiving a General Assembly budget package that omitted his proposal to withhold state money from localities, including Fairfax County, whose policies limit cooperation with ICE.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted its Trust Policy in 2021. It prohibits county employees, including police officers, from sharing information about a person’s citizenship status with ICE unless the law requires it. Fairfax County Public Schools adopted a similar policy in 2022.
The executive order does not initially appear to change the county policy because the sheriff’s office is not governed by the Board of Supervisors.
Board Chairman Jeff McKay said the county was continuing its review, but the order appeared limited to Virginia State Police, jails and sheriffs—none of which fall under the board’s authority.
Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares presented the order as a public-safety measure. They pointed to several criminal cases, including an alleged rape in Herndon, while arguing that undocumented people accused of dangerous crimes should be deported rather than released into Virginia communities.
“Dangerous criminal illegal immigrants should not be let back into our communities to assault, rape and murder,” Youngkin said. “They should be sent back where they came from.”
Advocates warn of eroding trust
Immigrant-rights organizations contend that closer cooperation with ICE could make communities less safe by discouraging immigrants from reporting crimes or seeking government services.
CASA Virginia Director Luis Aguilar said Black and brown immigrants have historically faced disproportionate enforcement. He compared 287(g) partnerships to the Fugitive Slave Acts because both enlisted law enforcement in capturing targeted groups of people.
Aguilar argued that the agreements put police in the role of immigration agents, impose costs on state and local governments and frequently affect people with little or no criminal history. He said the result is greater racial disparity in the criminal legal system and harm to Virginia families.
Diane Burkley Alejandro, lead advocate for ACLU People Power Fairfax, cited national research finding that immigrants—including those without legal status—are less likely than U.S.-born residents to be arrested for violent crimes or incarcerated. She also said research has found no connection between crime rates and local policies limiting cooperation with ICE.
The Major Cities Chiefs Association, which represents dozens of police departments, has opposed forcing local agencies to take part in immigration enforcement, she noted.
Burkley Alejandro accused Youngkin of diverting state resources to federal immigration work and said deputizing prison guards and state troopers could create fear while weakening public trust.
CASA and ACLU People Power Fairfax were among the organizations that urged Fairfax County to adopt its Trust Policy. Burkley Alejandro said she expects county leaders to continue limiting ICE cooperation to what the law requires.
Although the executive order does not seek to change that policy, she said, it could still deepen fear and distrust among immigrant communities.
Residents report growing fear
Concern is already widespread in southeastern Fairfax County, where one-quarter of residents were born outside the United States, according to Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, a Democrat representing District 34.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, ICE agents raided Rising Hope Mission Church in Woodlawn and detained six people as they left a hypothermia shelter hosted by the church, Surovell recalled.
The area drew ICE attention again during the first week of Trump’s second term. Officers reportedly awakened residents at the Beacon Hill Apartments in Groveton on Jan. 19.
Surovell said residents in his district are frightened and uncertain about the consequences of the federal immigration crackdown.
He argued that Youngkin’s directive could cause immigrants who witness or experience crimes to avoid contacting police, leading to fewer cases being solved and prosecuted.
Local jails already notify ICE when someone without legal status is booked, Surovell said. He contended that the agency sometimes fails to submit the required paperwork to extend a detention or does not arrive to take custody when the person becomes eligible for release.
Surovell accused Youngkin and Miyares of blaming local law enforcement for failures at the federal level. He said their attention should instead be directed toward the Trump administration and ICE, which he argued have not consistently followed longstanding procedures intended to protect communities.