Youngkin criticizes Virginia sanctuary sheriffs for 'neglecting their duty'

Without mentioning any specific county or sheriff, Youngkin said on X: “Virginia is not a sanctuary state. It is unacceptable that local officials refuse to cooperate with ICE to hold illegal immigrants accountable. They are neglecting their duty to serve and protect Virginians and endangering our entire commonwealth.”

Northern Virginia sheriffs were the first to ignore ICE requests to detain criminal illegal immigrants instead of releasing them and forcing federal forces to hunt them down for deportation.

Virginia is not a sanctuary state.

It is unacceptable that local authorities refuse to cooperate with ICE to hold illegal immigrants accountable. They are neglecting their duty to serve and protect Virginians and putting our entire Commonwealth at risk. https://t.co/d8qhRl5DT7

— Governor Glenn Youngkin (@GovernorVA) September 5, 2024

ICE says it is safer for the migrant and its agents to carry out the surrender at police headquarters rather than on the crime-ridden streets and neighborhoods where illegal immigrants hide.

Youngkin’s statement echoes a memo from Attorney General Jason Miyares, who said today that Virginia has no rules prohibiting local police from cooperating with ICE. Several liberal states do, making them sanctuary states for illegal immigrants.

“I just issued an attorney general’s opinion affirming that there are no legal impediments preventing local and state law enforcement in Virginia from cooperating with federal immigration agencies in detaining illegal immigrants,” Miyares said of his four-page memo.

ICE says it arrested a Bolivian national convicted of sex crimes against a Virginia child and that the Fairfax County sheriff refused to honor three immigration officers and released the convicted sex offender into the community.

– ERO Washington, DC. said it filed… pic.twitter.com/3tcF4A6O6Q

— Nick Minock (@NickMinock) August 26, 2024

Several Virginia counties were recently added to a national map of sanctuary jurisdictions produced by the Center for Immigration Studies. Some, however, have backtracked and claimed they are not sanctuaries and are working with ICE.

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Liberal Fairfax County, home to many federal workers in Washington, D.C., has a reputation for thumbing its nose at ICE and its “detained” requests, or requests to detain illegal criminals for ICE agents to arrest.

According to a recent report, only three of the 725 illegal immigrants held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center wanted by ICE have been turned over, drawing criticism from ICE.