Spanberger AG draws fire over two-front fight against Trump enforcement agenda
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones is drawing fire over two disputes involving the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda — a civil rights investigation into a rural sheriff’s traffic-stop practices amid his cooperation with ICE. and a legal challenge involving federal access to commercial driver records.
Virginia House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore told Fox News Digital that the two disputes reflect what he characterized as a broader unwillingness by Virginia’s Democratic leadership to cooperate with President Donald Trump. His criticism came as Jones announced a probe into Greene County Sheriff Steve Smith.
“That’s just this whole administration’s modus operandi, to put it bluntly, they are so mad at Trump, they want to make sure they don’t want to cooperate with Trump in any area whatsoever, and they want make it unsafe for Virginians,” Kilgore, R-Gate City, told Fox News Digital in an interview.
The criticism comes as Jones’ Office of Civil Rights notified Smith that it launched an investigation into allegations involving the Greene County Sheriff’s Office’s traffic-stop practices and cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“I applaud the Greene County sheriff for working with ICE to make that we don’t have illegals on our roads, illegals out here committing crimes and things of that nature, unlike our attorney general, who’s the chief law enforcement officer of our state out here picking fights with sheriffs over illegal immigrants,” Kilgore said.
The dispute comes amid a broader shift in Virginia’s immigration enforcement policy under Spanberger
On her first day in office, Spanberger — who endorsed Jones — rescinded former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s order encouraging ICE cooperation. She later signed a law on April 22 sponsored by Del. Alfonso Lopez, D-Arlington, restricting state and local participation in federal civil immigration enforcement.
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“[My office] has reviewed allegations that GCSO may be conducting traffic stops in violation of state law and the Constitution,” Jones’ Office of Civil Rights wrote to Smith while demanding records concerning immigration enforcement policies, training materials and interagency agreements.
Smith’s deputies have participated in several operations with ICE — notable for a small, rural county located along major transportation routes.
A June operation near the intersection of U.S. 29 and U.S. 33 resulted in 49 people being detained by ICE. U.S. 29 connects Washington, D.C., with Charlottesville and points south, while U.S. 33 connects Richmond with western Virginia.
A Honduran man identified by DHS as an MS-13 gang member was among 26 people arrested during another operation in nearby Ruckersville in May.
“Tell me what kind of message that’s sending to the citizens of Virginia — that it’s more important for me to protect illegal folks who are here illegally than to protect our citizens here,” Kilgore said.
Smith had previously defended his operations in comments to Charlottesville media, saying his deputies apply reasonable suspicion — “the same as we do for all vehicles” — as the standard for initiating traffic stops.
Local activists accused deputies of profiling, while Smith said speeding, failure to maintain a lane and running red lights most often prompt traffic stops.
“Oh, look, the Virginia AG is going after a cop for doing actual cop things,” former Del. Nick Freitas added in a statement.
Fox News Digital reached out to Jones, Spanberger and ICE for comment.
Smith declined to comment to Fox News Digital, citing his retention of counsel, but previously told the Piedmont Journal-Recorder that he will “continue to assist ICE with their operations” after discussing the new law with Del. Karen Hamilton, R-Stanardsville.
State Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, the Democrats’ 2009 gubernatorial nominee whose district neighbors Greene County, said he was “disappointed” by the situation.
“Certainly we all want people who come into this country to come in legally, but the people that are here are for the most part here to fill a need and that’s work,” he told CVilleRightNow.
Former Del. Kim Taylor, R-Petersburg, who received a politically motivated death threat during the 2025 election, referenced graphic text messages Jones sent to another former lawmaker imagining the murder of former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah. The “two bullets” scandal nearly torpedoed Jones’ campaign.
Taylor told Fox News Digital that she considers Jones’ actions hypocritical given his past messages.
“For an attorney general who once talked about putting ‘two bullets’ in a political opponent to now lecture law enforcement is hypocrisy at its worst,” she said.
Alongside his investigation into Smith, Jones joined a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s demand for a bulk transfer of commercial-driver records covering roughly 17 million drivers as the U.S. Department of Transportation cracks down on drivers who cannot meet English-language requirements or illegal immigrant truckers accused of causing deadly wrecks.
Jones celebrated U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga, a George W. Bush appointee, temporarily blocking the bulk transfer of the records, calling it an “important win for protecting the privacy of millions of commercial drivers.”
An ICE spokesperson confirmed the Ruckersville operation near US-29, including the arrests of 49 illegal immigrants.
“All of the illegal aliens were transported to ICE facilities for further processing and will receive due process. They will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings,” the spokesperson said.
“Partnerships with law enforcement are critical to having the resources we need to arrest illegal aliens across the country. When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with DHS, our law enforcement officers have to have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities,” they added.
Kilgore, whose southwestern Virginia district includes mountainous stretches of U.S. 58 and lies near Interstate 81, told Fox News Digital that the suit is “just another way that they try to stick their thumb in the administration’s eye.”
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“Once again, we’re siding with illegals or foreigners who are here driving 18-wheelers… who could harm our citizens because they’re not qualified,” Kilgore said.
“I don’t understand why the Democrats are so, so against these activities [that] make sure that our highways are safe.”
Fox News Digital’s Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.
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