Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is taking heat from leftist activists for not passing every anti-deportation policy Democrats want.
Spanberger failed “to keep all Virginians safe” on Wednesday by vetoing state House and Senate bills that would have required court warrants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enter certain public spaces, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a statement reposted online by leftist groups. However, Spanberger also signed legislation the same day banning immigration agents from wearing masks, a tactic the Trump administration says is necessary to protect their safety.
“Lawmakers recognized that when ICE agents can make warrantless arrests inside Virginia courthouses, the rule of law itself is under attack — so they took decisive action to protect it,” the ACLU said. “It is shocking that Gov. Spanberger would choose to veto the protections these bills would have provided and replace them with an executive order that does nothing to keep Virginians safe.”
The governor’s office and ICE did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment. The Trump administration has argued that banning masks for immigration officials is unconstitutional and won a favorable U.S. appeals court ruling against California in April over a similar law.
Spanberger, who took office in January, believes the judicial warrant requirements for ICE in courthouses, schools, polling places and other facilities “would create unavoidable legal liability for security personnel and local law enforcement officers,” her office said in a Wednesday statement.
“As a former law enforcement officer, I share many Virginians’ concerns regarding the dangerous and unchecked federal immigration enforcement actions we have seen across the country,” said Spanberger, a former intelligence official.
“I appreciate the goal and intended purpose of this bill, but in practice, this legislation would not achieve the intended goals,” she said. “It would effectively require security guards and, in some cases, local law enforcement be placed in the untenable position of choosing between violating state law or federal law, rendering this proposal unworkable.”
Spanberger accompanied her veto on Wednesday with an executive order saying ICE must have “a valid warrant or order” in these cases — without specifying judicial warrants. ICE often uses so-called administrative warrants based solely on executive authority to conduct searches.
DEEP DIVE: The forecast in Virginia isn’t all bad for conservatives.
Trump’s ICE nailed down contracts with more than two-dozen county agencies in 2025, creating an army of deportation-friendly sheriffs and jails that Gov. Spanberger can’t do anything about.
— Hudson Crozier
(@Hudson_Crozier) January 20, 2026
(@Hudson_Crozier) The governor also scrapped state agencies’ contracts with President Donald Trump’s ICE that allowed them to assist with immigration enforcement functions.
ACLU activists still say Spanberger’s explanations and anti-ICE record are not good enough.
“Let’s be clear: Virginia — not the federal government — is in charge of our state’s courthouses, so the governor’s actions today constitute a voluntary surrender of that authority to the Trump administration and its lawless anti-immigrant agenda,” the group said. “The governor ran and won on a promise to keep all Virginians safe, but today she shattered that promise by refusing to stand up to ICE and allowing the agency to continue using Virginia courthouses as its hunting grounds.”
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