This story was reported and written by VPM News.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin said on Monday that he supports a US Defense Department change that would permit National Guard units to aid in federal immigration enforcement.
Nationwide, approximately 1,700 National Guardsmen will be taking over duties previously performed by active-duty Marines and Naval Reserve service members, the DOD announced last month.
The support from Virginia National Guard units will be commanded by the commonwealth, and it includes case management, transportation and logistics, and clerical work for processing of people at ICE detention facilities.
Youngkin confirmed this aspect of the request to VPM News, saying the VNG’s work would be limited to logistics, administration and processing roles. Virginia is already home to two ICE detention centers located in the Town of Farmville and Caroline County.
“I think there's a great opportunity for them to bring their capabilities to the administrative side of this,” said Youngkin. “I do believe strongly that our — the role of the Virginia National Guard is not law enforcement. In this case, it is actually to support the administrative side of things.”
Once the governor issues a directive, VNG members could undergo related training as early as later this month. The service members would be under Youngkin’s authority as the state executive, but he said the federal government would reimburse the commonwealth’s related expenses.
Immigrant advocacy groups said deputizing VNG for enforcement support would be the wrong course of action.
Monica Sarmiento, executive director for the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, said immigrant communities feel “terrorized.”
“They feel frightened of the Trump administration, how families are being separated, and these tactics that are incredibly inhumane,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “The fact that Gov. Youngkin is deciding to go ahead and move forward in these actions is deeply disappointing.
The Virginia National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Title 32, the federal law under which the National Guardsmen would operate, is typically used for natural disasters — but was also utilized for COVID-19 response.
Under Title 32, state governors have the authority to decide whether National Guard personnel participate in federal missions. Last week, Republican Vermont Gov. Phil Scott declined DOD’s request to activate National Guardsmen for immigration enforcement. The troops were previously classified under Title 10, which is led by the president as commander-in-chief.
In an emailed statement, Assistant US Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told VPM News that the details were not finalized.
“This whole-of-government approach will greatly improve national security, public safety and DHS's ability to fulfill its pledge to the American people,” McLaughlin said, adding that the National Guard would be enabled “to supplement a wide range of immigration enforcement activity in the U.S. interior.”
Youngkin has made it clear that Virginia is not a sanctuary state by pushing local law enforcement agencies into cooperating with ICE through287(g) agreements, which allow for them to take on immigration enforcement powers.
Most of the 30 state and local law enforcement agencies that have signed 287(g) agreements are sheriff's departments in small counties. But the list also includes state agencies like Virginia State Police and range from the Grayson County Sheriff's Office to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.
Localities like the City of Richmond, Fairfax and Arlington counties have made it known they are not collaborating or coordinating with ICE to enforce federal immigration law. For example, Fairfax’s Trust Policy contains provisions preventing county employees from voluntarily cooperating with ICE.
But even if localities refuse to cooperate, communities are still subject to federal immigration enforcement, as has been reported in local neighborhoods as well as outside courthouses in Charlottesville and Chesterfield.
Just last week, Richmond Police issued a press release after an ICE raid took place in a predominantly Latino neighborhood: “RPD did not participate in the activity of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
RPD Chief Rick Edwards said in July that 9-1-1 calls from the same neighborhood had dropped by 33% in recent months.
Sarmiento said the public’s ability to feel safe goes beyond calling law enforcement.
“It's also people not feeling safe enough to go and do their shopping, go to the grocery store, go take their kids to go buy some ice cream, and really be able to go ahead and enjoy their lives,” said Sarmiento.