The City of Lynchburg in Virginia voted to reaffirm its cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in defiance of an order issued by Governor Abigail Spanberger (D).
The city’s resolution states: “Irrespective of the execution of Executive Order No. 10 by Governor Abigail Spanberger on January 17, 2026, the City of Lynchburg, Virginia will continue to partner and cooperate with Virginia and/or Federal law-enforcement agencies and other authorities in a manner (i) that is consistent with existing City practice(s) and ii) that complies with Virginia law.”
In a 6-0 vote, with one council member absent, the resolution passed.
“Lynchburg will continue to operate as normal, regardless of what Richmond says,” stated Councilman Chris Faraldi, who introduced the resolution.
In January, Governor Spanberger rescinded an order from former Governor Glenn Youngkin that directed state agencies to work with immigration enforcement officials. Spanberger’s policy claimed that “Virginians have been deprived of critical public safety resources due to the directives” present in the former order, resulting in the diversion of “limited resources for use in enforcing federal civil immigration laws.”
“Federal authorities should enforce federal civil immigration laws—law enforcement in the Commonwealth should prioritize the safety and security of all residents in Virginia, the enforcement of local and state laws, and coordination with federal entities on criminal matters,” the order read.
Despite the executive order, border czar Tom Homan made clear that ICE cooperation at the state level is not required for enforcement to continue. “Well, we’ll work around it,” he said, pointing to similar policies in states like New York, California, and Illinois. He said those decisions force ICE to deploy more agents and resources, making enforcement less efficient and increasing risks to public safety.
“When you are knowingly going to release public safety threats in the community, now we’ve got to send a whole team out looking for them,” Homan said. He added that the administration plans to “flood sanctuary cities” with federal agents to compensate.
