Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones is facing backlash over a civil rights probe into a sheriff who cooperates with ICE and a lawsuit against federal enforcement, as Republicans accuse him of choosing politics over public safety.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones is drawing heavy criticism for waging a two-front fight against the Trump administration's immigration enforcement agenda, with state Republicans accusing the Democrat of putting politics ahead of public safety.
Jones has launched a civil rights investigation into Greene County Sheriff Steve Smith over his office's traffic-stop practices and cooperation with federal immigration authorities. At the same time, the attorney general has joined a lawsuit challenging the federal government's demand for a bulk transfer of commercial-driver records covering roughly 17 million drivers as the Department of Transportation cracks down on drivers who cannot meet English-language requirements.
Jones' Office of Civil Rights notified Smith that it had opened an investigation into allegations involving the Greene County Sheriff's Office, demanding records concerning immigration enforcement policies, training materials and interagency agreements. The probe targets a small, rural department located along major transportation routes that has repeatedly partnered with ICE on operations.
Smith's deputies have participated in several operations with federal agents. A June operation near the intersection of U.S. 29 and U.S. 33 resulted in 49 people being detained by ICE, while another operation in nearby Ruckersville in May netted 26 arrests, including a Honduran man identified by the Department of Homeland Security as an MS-13 gang member.
The sheriff has defended his deputies' practices, saying they apply reasonable suspicion -- "the same as we do for all vehicles" -- when initiating traffic stops, with speeding, failure to maintain a lane and running red lights most often prompting stops. Local activists have accused the department of profiling, but Smith has vowed to keep working with federal agents.
Virginia House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore said the two disputes reflect a broader unwillingness by Virginia's Democratic leadership to cooperate with President Donald Trump.
"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 said.
"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," he added.
Former Virginia Del. Nick Freitas also weighed in, writing: "Oh, look, the Virginia AG is going after a cop for doing actual cop things." Former Del. Kim Taylor, meanwhile, invoked the "two bullets" scandal that nearly derailed Jones' campaign, in which the attorney general sent graphic text messages imagining the murder of former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert.
"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," Taylor said.
The fight is the latest chapter in a running conflict between the Trump administration and Virginia's Democratic leadership. Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who endorsed Jones, rescinded former Gov. Glenn Youngkin's order encouraging ICE cooperation on her first day in office, and she signed a law on April 22 restricting state and local participation in federal civil immigration enforcement.
The Justice Department sued Virginia in June over state laws that could criminally punish masked federal agents and dismantle local ICE cooperation agreements. The commercial-driver records fight adds another front, tied to a federal trucking crackdown that has already produced dozens of immigration detentions and English-language proficiency violations.
State Sen. Creigh Deeds, a Democrat whose district neighbors Greene County, said he was "disappointed" by the situation, while acknowledging that most immigrants in the country are "here to fill a need."
Smith has declined to comment publicly while retaining counsel, but he previously told local media he will "continue to assist ICE with their operations." The attorney general's office has not responded to requests for comment on the investigation or the records lawsuit.
With the probe now open and the litigation moving forward, Virginia is shaping up as a key battleground in the national fight over immigration enforcement. The question is whether Jones' two-front strategy will hold up in court, or backfire on the Democrats who embraced it.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones is facing backlash over a civil rights probe into a sheriff who cooperates with ICE and a lawsuit against federal enforcement, as Republicans accuse him of choosing politics over public safety.
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