Overview

• The Democratic nominee told the Virginia Mercury she would rescind Executive Order 47 if elected governor.
• Youngkin’s February order directs Virginia State Police and the Department of Corrections to pursue 287(g)-style partnerships with ICE and asks local jails to certify full cooperation with federal deportation efforts.
• Spanberger says local assistance to ICE diverts officers from community policing, raises constitutional issues, and strains budgets, citing more than $1 million Prince William County spent housing detainees under a prior partnership.
• Youngkin and Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears condemned the pledge as a public-safety risk, with Earle-Sears calling the order “common sense” and claiming statewide crime is down by about one-third.
• Recent surveys show Spanberger leading Earle-Sears by single digits, as reporting cites at least 4,179 ICE arrests in Virginia since January and a July announcement of 2,512 violent offenders arrested through a state-federal task force.