RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order Thursday that directs the Virginia State Police (VSP) and the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) to sign agreements with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).
“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 he released when announcing the order. “This order will allow Virginia State Police and the Department of Corrections to partner with President Trump’s administration on federal immigration enforcement. 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 first directive in the order, calls for VSP to enter into what is known as a Section 287(g) Task Force Model (TFM) agreement. ICE's website said those models "serves as a force multiplier for law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties."
ICE said that it has TFM agreements with 83 agencies in seven states. The majority of the agreements are with local departments, but some of the state agreements include Florida and Kansas.
In his announcement, Youngkin pointed to cases in Virginia and around the country where illegal or undocumented immigrants were involved in deadly crimes, including some by people who've been previously deported.
The second directive in the executive order tells VADOC to enter into Jail Enforcement Model agreement. ICE's website said it "is designed to identify and process removable aliens — with criminal or pending criminal charges — who are arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies."
Youngkin said VADOC already cooperates with ICE, but this will formalize it and adds there are currently 946 inmates in state facilities with an open immigration detainer.
Democrats and immigrant rights groups are pushing back on the order, raising concerns about the program's costs and impact on immigrant communities
"We're further driving immigrant communities into the darkness, instead of helping them to stand with us in the light and be able to actually make the Virginia that we want," said Solomon Ayalew, DMV Director of African Communities Together. He pointed to a study that found undocumented immigrants who are victims of crime were less likely to report it if law enforcement cooperated with ICE. "Right now, the fear is extremely high, and it's rightfully high considering what we've seen with 287(g) and how it's operated at county levels, at low levels. To see it at a state level, especially a state as large as Virginia, it's a very scary time."
Ayalew also said enrolling in the program will take away funds and resources that could be used elsewhere.
Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) called the order a PR stunt and said police and jails already comply with laws and notify ICE, but it's the federal agency failing to act.
"It's not going to help make our community more safe. In fact, it's going to have the opposite effect," Surovell said. "The problem is ICE doesn't pick people up, and the governor should be focusing his fire on President Trump and ICE to get them to do their job, instead of pretending like this is a local law enforcement problem."
The final directive directs the state to inquire with local jails to confirm they're fulling cooperating with ICE.
In a statement and on cable news, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears applauded the order and said Virginia was not a "sanctuary state."
In a statement, the Virginia State Police say they're in the process of entering into an agreement with ICE, with the superintendent saying they frequently partner with other agencies to support the governor's initiatives on violent crime.
A spokesperson adds for operational reasons, for the agency would not say how many of its troopers will be deputized under this program.
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