“It is not the job of Virginia’s law enforcement agencies to carry out the Trump administration’s brutal and fear-based anti-immigrant agenda,” the ACLU of Virginia reacted to Gov. Spanberger rescission of a harmful, Youngkin-era order
In one of her first major acts following her Jan. 17 inauguration, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger rescinded a Greg Youngkin-era executive order that endangered community safety and wasted local resources by directing Virginia State Police and Virginia Department of Corrections officers to be deputized by ICE as federal immigration enforcement agents.
“This executive order rescinds Executive Order 47, which requires and encourages state and local law enforcement to divert their limited resources for use in enforcing federal civil immigration laws,” said Gov. Spanberger’s office. “Ensuring public safety in Virginia requires state and local law enforcement to be focused on their core responsibilities of investigating and deterring criminal activity, staffing jails, and community engagement.”
CASA and other advocates had condemned Youngkin’s 2025 order directing the agencies to collaborate in ICE’s deeply flawed 287(g) program, a federal policy that experts have said has resulted in “widespread” racial profiling, the arrests of individuals who pose no public safety threat or have no criminal record at all, and massive local costs at the expense of working families that call these communities home. “A 2016 study by the Brookings Institution found that Prince William County, Virginia, had to raise property taxes and take money from its ‘rainy day’ fund to implement its 287(g) program,” as the American Immigration Council said in 2021.
“It is not the job of Virginia’s law enforcement agencies to carry out the Trump administration’s brutal and fear-based anti-immigrant agenda,” the ACLU of Virginia said in reaction to the rescission of the 2025 order. “Governor Spanberger’s executive order recognizes that blurring the line between Virginia law enforcement and federal immigration agents not only diverts Virginia resources away from public safety priorities, but erodes public trust by terrorizing communities and breaking apart families.”
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In New Jersey, outgoing Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the Safe Communities Act, which directs the state’s attorney general to develop policies “to protect immigrants at ‘sensitive locations,’ such as schools, hospitals, courthouses and houses of worship,” Gothamist reported.
“Whether you’re praying in a church, studying in school, receiving medical care at a hospital, or seeking legal relief, no one should live in fear or uncertainty or be deterred from seeking essential services due to their immigration status,” Murphy said on Jan. 20, his last day in office. But while the Safe Communities Act was a key demand of New Jersey families and community members worried about the federal government’s egregious overreach, Murphy “opted to pocket veto the two more significant bills in the immigrant protections bill package,” said the ACLU of New Jersey.
The Privacy Protection Act “would have created data privacy protections” while the Immigrant Trust Directive would have codified existing policy into law, “thereby ensuring local resources are used to provide important municipal services rather than fund the federal deportation machine.”
“Together,” the ACLU of New Jersey continued, “the three bills would have ensured that the state’s clear authority to direct the use of its own resources was exercised to protect New Jerseyans, almost 1 in 4 of whom are immigrants and 1 in 6 of whom have at least one immigrant parent.”
Local voices in the state expressed disappointment over Murphy vetoing the Privacy Protection Act and the Immigrant Trust Directive and are determined to keep fighting for families by calling on Gov. Mikie Sherrill and the state legislature “to establish data privacy protections and ensure state and local resources are not commandeered for federal immigration enforcement.”
🚨 BREAKING: Earlier this morning, @govmurphy.bsky.social signed the Safe Communities Act while allowing TWO OUT OF THREE crucial bills in the immigrant protections package to die on his desk.Shame, shame, shame.🔗 Read our full statement at bit.ly/statement12026
— New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (@njaij.bsky.social) 2026-01-20T14:54:00.601Z
“As an immigrant myself, these bills are deeply personal, which is why I remain committed to reintroducing this legislation in our new legislative session,” said Assemblywoman Ellen J. Park in a statement.“While these bills were not signed into law this time, our efforts do not end here.”
— Ruth Delgado (@heylookitsruth.bsky.social) 2026-01-21T01:05:05.624Z
“In failing to sign these bills, Governor Murphy has left New Jersey without critical protections at a moment when ICE is brutalizing our communities. These bills were legally sound, politically viable, and commonsense policy,” said Amol Sinha, Executive Director of ACLU-NJ. Nedia Morsy, Executive Director of Make the Road New Jersey, said that while the Safe Communities Act “is a meaningful and necessary step that will bring real relief to families who are afraid to enter schools, hospitals, or places of worship, it was never intended to stand alone. The three immigrant protection bills were designed to work together—to protect families not only in public spaces, but also from surveillance, data sharing, and coercive entanglement with federal immigration enforcement. Our communities asked for protection, and today, they were denied.”
The Privacy Protection Act and the Immigrant Trust Directive “are essential, and without them, the protections our communities fought for remain incomplete and fragile,” said Seongwon Kim, Program Manager with the Minkwon Center. “Delay or partial action leaves families exposed and undermines the trust and safety these bills are meant to guarantee. Our community can’t afford more delays.”
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Other states and localities are also proposing bills designed to help protect immigrant neighbors amid the federal government’s overreach. In Maryland’s Montgomery County, the Unmask ICE Act would “prevent local, state and federal law enforcement agents from wearing masks or other facial coverings in most cases while on duty in the county,” Bethesda Today reported. The proposal’s author, Montgomery County councilmember Will Jawando (D-At-large), said that “any law enforcement officer worth their salt will tell you, you don’t build trust by hiding who you are. You don’t keep people safe by hiding who you are.”
In California, a law “banning local and federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks that hide their identities during immigration enforcement activities” went into effect on Jan. 1, ABC 10 reported. That law’s author, state Senator Scott Wiener, has since authored the No Kings Act, which seeks to “hold ICE and other federal officers accountable for violating constitutional rights. The bill passed a key committee last week,” according to an email from Sen. Wiener’s office.
“In combination with California’s law banning ICE and other law enforcement from wearing ski marks — a law I authored last year — the No Kings Act will help ensure the transparency and accountability we need to stop agents from acting with impunity,” he said.
