One of Gov. Spanberger's first executive orders limited the cooperation between state and local police on one hand and fedearl authorities on the other (ICE).
Every day I read a couple of Virginia Republican blogs just to see what madness they are up to and they are losing their minds over everything Spanberger has done, promises to do, and may do, including her order to limit cooperation with the Gestapo.
Let's consider some facts that no one ever talks about.
Local police are responsible for law enforcement and public safety in their communities. They rely heavily on support and information from the local communities they are pledged to protect. Local police must have the trust of their community -- that is, the people must know the police are looking out for their welfare and are not predators with badges. Many immigrants come from countries where the police are the enemy – extorting bribes, looking the other way while communities are threatened by gangs, and the like. Thus, many immigrants arrive in the US with deep suspicions of local police which means that local police must work to gain and retain the trust of the people they are protecting.
If local police departments assist ICE in enforcing federal laws, then, immigrant communities will see the local police as no different from the thugs in uniforms they hoped to escape by coming to the US.
Local authorities are doing the right thing to limit their cooperation with ICE and this fact has become more true as we see the deployments of ICE under Trump not as law enforcement but as harassment of communities that did not vote for him.
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