Blocking ICE cooperation fueled Minnesota unrest, officials warn as Virginia reverses course
States that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement push ICE onto the streets to search for subjects, fueling avoidable agitator unrest that is absent in places where local authorities have a working relationship with DHS, several states' officials told Fox News Digital.
Their comments follow a New York Times analysis showing that "at-large" ICE arrests — operations conducted in communities rather than jails — have surged most sharply in states that bar local authorities from honoring immigration detainers or working with federal agents.
The analysis pointed to California, Illinois and New York as the most common sites for at-large arrests, citing laws there blocking local authorities from cooperating or handing over prisoners to federal immigration enforcement.
The states with a 90%-or-more share of at-large arrests included Illinois, New York, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and Alaska, according to the paper.
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"If Dems would just honor the detainers, ICE would pick up illegal aliens from jail, where they’re already in custody," Republican strategist Tim Murtaugh remarked on the findings.
"But because they don’t, ICE has to find the illegal aliens in the community after they’re released," he said. "ICE didn’t bring the chaos. The chaos is what brought ICE."
Prosecutors and lawmakers in states not mentioned in the analysis agreed; there is no smoke in their jurisdictions because there is no fire.
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"Law enforcement works best when it works together, focusing on the mission and not limited by what it says on our badges," Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman told Fox News Digital.
"As threats grow, zealous collaboration amongst federal, state and local law enforcement is necessary to keep American families safe."
Coleman said cooperation with ICE in Kentucky is helping keep the peace, and avoid the kinds of violent scenes seen in Minneapolis and elsewhere.
The dynamic, he said, "could work in other states too."
And it has, according to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who said the Yellowhammer State proudly "stands united with ICE and all federal law enforcement partners."
"[We share a] mission to remove dangerous criminal aliens, child predators, and human traffickers from our streets," Marshall said, contrasting the lack of such unrest in Montgomery and Mobile versus Minneapolis.
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"You have to be truly sick and deranged to call yourself a leader while actively welcoming such predators into your cities and states. That will never happen in Alabama."
Virginia, however, may become the test case for what happens after a tidal shift in such policy, current and former officials there said.
Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin entered Virginia into a 287(g) agreement, which authorizes cooperation between state law enforcement and ICE to identify and transfer criminal illegal immigrants from custody. He was backed by GOP state officials, including former Attorney General Jason Miyares, who welcomed ICE into the Old Dominion and collaborated as often as possible.
Miyares said in a statement that Virginia’s "streets have become less safe with the stroke of a pen," after Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger reversed Youngkin's action this month after taking office.
"This is a disaster for the public safety of the Commonwealth. Mark my words, there will be Virginians who will be robbed, raped and murdered as a result of this anti-public safety executive order. No one should be surprised."
Virginia House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore agreed, telling Fox News Digital he can "absolutely" envision scenes of unrest at home in the future, now that DHS is no longer welcome.
"With local law enforcement [cooperation], DHS can identify and just send a small team in," Kilgore said, adding that dynamic happened a lot under Youngkin when ICE was allowed to surgically pursue MS-13 gangsters due to cooperation from Richmond.
"I would encourage [Spanberger] to rethink this because it's making Virginians less safe – period."
Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger for comment. Previously, she said that "state and local law enforcement should not be required to divert their limited resources to enforce federal civil immigration laws."
Leaders in states where chaos has erupted have defended their stance, with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison citing a "federal invasion of the Twin Cities and Minnesota [that] must stop."
California Attorney General Rob Bonta called ICE-involved unrest in Los Angeles part of a pattern of attacks on immigrant communities by President Donald Trump and said the immigration enforcement operations are "not about safety and justice" but "quotas" for DHS.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul previously referred to federal agents as "occupiers" who "often violently question residents" without warrants or probable cause.