Federal Court Blocks Virginia Law Banning Police from Working with ICE
Spanberger wrote the 287(g) choke. Judge Payne paused it. The contracts stay live.
Summary
- Breitbart reports U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne of the Eastern District of Virginia issued a preliminary injunction on Aug. 31 in United States v. Commonwealth of Virginia, blocking most of Virginia Code 15.2-1726.1 (SB 783 / HB 1441).
- Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, signed the law April 22. It forced 287(g) pacts to be rewritten with advance notice of ICE operations, public identification of federal agents, and limits on information-sharing, and barred local work with ICE without a judicial warrant for every illegal detained.
- Agreements not rewritten were to void automatically. Payne kept existing 287(g) pacts in place and said a full trial would likely favor the United States. DOJ argues the statute discriminates against the federal government and impedes enforcement.
- Democratic Attorney General Jay Jones said he will seek a stay and appeal, claiming localities should not spend scarce resources on federal duties.
Commentary
A Hampton Roads deputy still sits in a vinyl booking chair and wants a 287(g) that works at 2 a.m., not a rewrite that tips the raid before the van moves. He did not pin a badge so Richmond could own the detainer.
April 22 signature. August 31 pause. Advance notice. Name the agents. Warrant for every hold. The honest dad already paid the jail. The statute paid the leak.
Ask every working mother in a 287(g) county: if a state can void a federal pact by statute, who still owns the jail door?
Comments
Advance notice of a raid is a press release for the target. Payne saw it.
I handed a detainer at 2 a.m. A warrant-for-every-hold rule is a sanctuary by another name.
Payne Aug. 31. SB 783. HB 1441. Spanberger April 22. Jones appeal. Publish the five.
Allied prefectures still honor a federal pact. Auto-void is a tell.
United States v. Commonwealth of Virginia. 15.2-1726.1. Existing pacts live. File the caption.
I still sit a booking desk. I want the pact intact when the van is already moving.
Naming agents in public is not transparency. It is a map to their kids' schools.
A state choke on 287(g) is a second border. Keep the injunction.
Breitbart printed Payne, April 22, auto-void, and Jones. Argue those nouns.
Keep the pacts. Kill the rewrite. A jail door is not a campaign prop.
