Spanberger Escalates Clash With ICE in Virginia
By James Morley III | Saturday, 23 May 2026 06:46 PM EDT
Virginia Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger escalated her clash with the Trump administration this week by signing an executive order limiting how federal immigration agents can operate on state property, part of a broader Democratic pushback against the administration’s expanded immigration enforcement agenda.
Under the order, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are barred from conducting arrests on state property without a warrant and prohibited from using state facilities as staging grounds for enforcement operations.
Spanberger argued the move was necessary to restore public trust and reduce fear among immigrant communities, saying children were afraid to go to school and workers feared showing up to their jobs amid stepped-up ICE activity.
The action follows one of Spanberger’s first moves after taking office in January, when she rescinded former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s directive requiring Virginia law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE under federal 287(g) agreements.
Those agreements allowed local officials to assist with immigration enforcement operations.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/spanberger-virginia-ice/2026/05/23/id/1257315/