Virginia Governor Signed an Anti-ICE Order and a Top Constitutional Lawyer Just Destroyed It
Kate Steinle's killer walked free in San Francisco because the city refused to hand him to ICE.
Now Virginia's governor just signed her own version of that policy.
What a law professor just said about that order should embarrass her completely.
The Order That Changes Nothing
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin didn't mince words when Spanberger signed Executive Order 16 this week.
"No surprise: Governor Spanberger continues to put illegal alien criminals over her own constituents," Mullin said.
The order instructs Virginia state employees to demand valid federal warrants before allowing ICE onto Commonwealth property and bars state facilities from being used as staging areas.
It sounds tough.
Federal law – specifically 18 U.S.C. 592 – already prohibits federal armed personnel from stationing themselves at polling places.
That law covers ICE.
It was on the books long before Spanberger picked up a pen.
Constitutional scholar Hans von Spakovsky of Advancing American Freedom called it for what it is: "This is political theater. First of all, no warrant is required under federal immigration law to detain individuals. And it is a completely unnecessary provision."
Spanberger herself knew that when she signed it.
She vetoed a separate Virginia bill that would have actually banned ICE from hospitals, schools, courthouses, and polling places, writing in her veto message that such a law "would create unavoidable legal liability for security personnel and local law enforcement officers."
She killed the real law because she knew a federal court would strike it down inside of a month.
So she signed a fake one instead and held a press conference.
The Playbook Democrats Have Run Since New Jersey
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill tried the same move in February – signing Executive Order No. 12, barring ICE from nonpublic state property without a judicial warrant.
The DOJ sued her within two weeks.
Attorney General Pam Bondi was direct: "States may not deliberately interfere with our efforts to remove illegal aliens and arrest criminals – New Jersey's sanctuary policies will not stand."
The DOJ charged that Sherrill's order violated the Supremacy Clause – the constitutional principle that federal law is the supreme law of the land.
Spanberger watched that play out.
Then she engineered a version deliberately too weak to survive a legal challenge – and too weak to matter.
She gets the political credit with the MSNBC crowd without the DOJ lawsuit that would expose her in court.
Sanctuary Theater Has a Body Count in Virginia
While Spanberger was crafting her political press release, a Virginia mother named Stephanie Minter was murdered.
Her killer was Abdul Jalloh – an illegal alien from Sierra Leone with over 150 interactions with law enforcement and more than 30 criminal charges to his name.
Police warned Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano three times to keep Jalloh behind bars.
Descano let him walk.
Jalloh murdered Minter.
That's not the only one.
On April 2, Franklin County police arrested Jorge Enrique Garcia-Rodriguez – an illegal alien from Mexico – on charges of forcible intercourse with a child under 13.
He was then charged with six additional felony counts of child pornography possession.
ICE lodged a detainer.
DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis put it plainly: "This sicko has been charged with forcible intercourse with a child and SIX counts of possession of child pornography. ICE is asking Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger to commit to not releasing this pedophile from jail."
This is the governor now signing orders to protect Virginia from the federal agents trying to remove these men.
Andrew Cuomo ran the same play in New York.
Jay Inslee ran it in Washington State.
Maura Healey ran it in Massachusetts.
Every one of them signed orders with tough language and zero enforcement power – just enough to get a supportive anchor hit, not enough to survive a Supremacy Clause challenge.
Spanberger is the first one cynical enough to veto the real law first, then sign the hollow one for cameras.
Stephanie Minter is dead.
A child in Franklin County was raped.
Spanberger signed a press release and called it governance.
Sources:
- Leo Briceno, "Legal Expert Unleashes on Spanberger's New Executive Order Targeting ICE: 'Political Theater,'" Fox News, May 21, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security, "DHS Asks Virginia Governor Spanberger to Not Release Illegal Alien Charged with Child Rape and Possession of Child Pornography," DHS.gov, May 20, 2026.
- Alec Schemmel, "Virginia Dems Push Anti-ICE Bills Days After Spanberger Rejects Detainer for Illegal Immigrant Murder Suspect," Fox News, March 6, 2026.
- Jonathan Turley, "The Spanberger Flea Circus: Virginia Governor Signs Anti-ICE Executive Order Devoid of Meaning," JonathanTurley.org, May 22, 2026.
- Michael Dorgan, "DOJ Sues New Jersey Over Executive Order Limiting ICE Cooperation, Expanding Sanctuary Status," Fox News, February 24, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Justice, "Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against New Jersey for Interfering with Federal Immigration Laws," DOJ.gov, February 24, 2026.
- Governor's Office of Virginia, "Governor Spanberger Vetoes House Bill 650," Governor.Virginia.gov, May 2026.
