White House Border Czar Tom Homan is blasting newly sworn-in Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger (D) for swiftly dismantling state cooperation with federal immigration authorities, warning that her first-day executive order sends exactly the wrong message to criminals in the country illegally.
Spanberger, who campaigned as a centrist and former law enforcement officer, entered office with a flurry of executive actions that conservatives say could have been drafted by the progressive left. According to RedState, the Democrat recently compared to a Bond villain by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon wasted no time in targeting one of the most consequential policies of her Republican predecessor, Glenn Youngkin, by rolling back Virginias partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Youngkins directive had expanded cooperation among the Virginia State Police, the Department of Corrections, and ICE, allowing state and local officers to perform limited federal immigration functions. That framework helped identify and deport criminal aliens already in custody, ensuring that dangerous offenders were not simply released back into Virginia communities after serving their sentences.
Spanbergers order effectively tore up that arrangement within hours of her inauguration, a move that immediately drew Homans ire. The former acting ICE director, now serving as the administrations border czar, argued that the governors actions betray the very image she sold to voters during her campaign.
Im a resident of Virginia, and Spanberger I remember her campaign ads. Im a law enforcement officer. I rescued children from sex trafficking. Ive seen the commercials, Homan said in an interview with Ruthless co-host John Ashbrook. So, first day in office, she stops being a law enforcement officer and became a politician because wheres all those commercials you did about supporting law enforcement and rescuing kids?
For many conservatives, that contrast is the heart of the issue: a candidate who ran as a tough-on-crime moderate now embracing sanctuary-style policies that shield illegal immigrants from accountability. Campaigning as a centrist while governing as a progressive is hardly new in Democratic politics, but doing so on an issue as fundamental as public safety is raising particular alarm in a border crisis era.
Homan underscored what he described as the proven effectiveness of the Trump administrations enforcement-first approach, especially in removing violent criminal aliens and tracking down vulnerable minors. He noted that under President Trumps leadership, federal authorities were able to locate 130,000 of those missing kids who have vanished under the Biden administrations lax border regime, and he pointed to the recent enforcement surge in Minnesota as evidence that aggressive action works.
Despite his criticism, Homan said he still hopes to find some way to work with Spanberger, though he conceded it doesnt look good. In the meantime, he made clear that federal authorities will not sit idle while blue-state politicians and left-leaning governors try to turn their jurisdictions into sanctuaries for lawbreakers.
"I said it from Day 1: the thousands of agents we're bringing on - we're going to flood sanctuary cities," Homan declared. "We have to because you created a problem when you released some public safety threats in the streets."
So, unfortunately, they set the stage, and were going to do what weve got to do. Theyre not going to stop us. They can stand on the sidelines and watch," he added, pointedly rebuking officials like Spanberger. "Shame on them, but theyre not going to stop us from doing this mission.
Homans posture reflects a broader conservative frustration with Democratic efforts to hamstring immigration enforcement while insisting they still support law and order. Tom Homan isnt exactly known for rolling over, so of course hes vowing to work around Gov. Spanbergers order cutting off ICE cooperation, and his message is that Democrats can keep trying to kneecap enforcement, but he does not need their permission to uphold federal law.
President Trump has also weighed in, signaling that the White House is watching Virginias shift closely and is prepared to hold Spanberger politically accountable if her policies endanger citizens. "Well, I hope there are no problems because if there are, she's not gonna get it corrected very easily. And, uh, that's a bad signal. You know, that's not where the country is," he said in an interview with Katie Pavlich of NewsNation.
"The country doesn't wanna see murderers and drug dealers and gang members, and all coming from other countries and just stay in their area," Trump continued, echoing a sentiment widely shared among voters who are weary of rising crime and unchecked illegal immigration. For a governor who promised moderation, aligning herself with policies that make it harder to remove such offenders is a political gamble that could backfire if even one preventable tragedy occurs.
Trump contrasted Spanbergers approach with what he described as the dramatic turnaround in the nations capital under his leadership. "Take a look at Washington DC, as you know better than anybody, it was very, very unsafe a year and a half ago. Because now it's a year, so I have to go a little more than a year ago, but it was a very, very unsafe place," the President told Pavlich.
"And now it's totally safe. It's a, it's a beautiful, I mean, people are walking with their kids to restaurants," he said, holding up public order and visible safety as the standard by which leaders should be judged. For conservatives, that is precisely the point: governments first duty is to protect law-abiding citizens, not to provide political cover for those who violate the nations borders and laws.
Spanbergers critics argue that her executive order effectively flips that priority, making life easier for criminal illegal aliens while leaving ordinary Virginians to bear the risk. Spanberger would prefer that the citizens of Virginia hide in the shadows, staying behind locked doors at home, rather than having criminal illegal aliens be a little skittish about having to be held accountable, and any Bond villain would be nodding with approval.
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