Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has repealed a prior executive order that directed state and local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reversing a policy put in place under former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Spanberger announced the repeal through a new executive order that rescinds Executive Order No. 47, which Youngkin signed in February 2025.

The earlier order required the Virginia State Police and the Department of Corrections to enter into Section 287(g) agreements with ICE, a federal program that authorizes trained local officers to assist in enforcing certain immigration laws.

“This Executive Order rescinds Executive Order 47,” Spanberger said.

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“State and local law enforcement should not be required to divert their limited resources to enforce federal civil immigration laws. It is a responsibility of federal law enforcement. Virginia state and local enforcement officers must be able to focus on their core responsibilities, investigating crime and community policing.”

As previously reported by Breitbart News, Youngkin’s executive order directed the Virginia State Police and the Department of Corrections to formalize cooperation with ICE through the 287(g) program.

That directive also instructed the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to seek certifications from local and regional jail authorities confirming full cooperation with ICE and participation in the 287(g) Virginia State Police task force.

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Breitbart’s Neil Munro reported at the time that the federal 287(g) program is designed to train and authorize local police forces to link arrests made at the local level with ICE enforcement actions.

Spanberger’s order repealing Youngkin’s directive states that state and local law enforcement agencies should instead “be focused on their core responsibilities of investigating and deterring criminal activity, staffing jails, and community engagement.”

“Since 2025, Virginians have been deprived of critical public safety resources due to the directives in Executive Order No. 47 (2025) that require and encourage state and local law enforcement to divert their limited resources for use in enforcing federal civil immigration laws,” Spanberger’s order states.

The repeal follows statements Spanberger made prior to the November gubernatorial election, when she confirmed in an interview with the Virginia Mercury that she would rescind Youngkin’s order if elected.

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During that interview, Spanberger said that while the nation’s immigration system is flawed, she believed using state and local law enforcement to assist ICE was an inappropriate allocation of resources.

Though she acknowledged that the “immigration system is absolutely broken,” Spanberger said it was a “misuse” of local law enforcement resources to pull officers and deputies away from their regular duties to assist in immigration enforcement.

“The idea that we would take local police officers or local sheriff’s deputies in amid all the things that they have to do, like community policing or staffing our jail or investigating real crimes, so that they can go and tear families apart… that is a misuse of those resources,” Spanberger said.

Supporters of Youngkin’s now-repealed order had argued that cooperation with ICE enhances public safety by ensuring that illegal aliens encountered by law enforcement, particularly those charged or convicted of crimes, can be identified and transferred to federal custody.

Critics, including Spanberger, countered that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and that local agencies lack the capacity to take on additional duties without affecting core services.

The repeal places Virginia among states that limit or restrict formal cooperation between state and local law enforcement agencies and ICE, particularly with respect to civil immigration enforcement.

The decision also removes the requirement that local jail authorities certify cooperation with ICE or participate in the 287(g) task force.

Spanberger’s action marks a significant shift in Virginia’s approach to immigration enforcement and law enforcement cooperation, undoing a policy that had been in effect since early 2025 and reaffirming her stated position that state and local police should remain focused on traditional public safety roles rather than federal immigration duties.

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