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Loudoun Community Raises Concerns Over Sheriff’s Office ICE Agreement
Community members gathered at the Board of Supervisors meeting last night to raise concerns over an agreement between the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agreement was formalized in March and has sheriff’s deputies inquiring with other agencies about detainers prior to releasing a person incarcerated at the Adult Detention Center. If ICE has a detainer, the Sheriff’s Office will hold the person to be picked up by federal agents for 48 hours.
More access, less cost: Spanberger lays out health care plans if she wins Virginia governorship
While Abigail Spanberger’s former congressional colleagues stayed up late Tuesday night debating proposed cuts to Medicaid in a jumbo GOP bill to reduce federal spending, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee outlined her health care-focused plans if she becomes Virginia’s next governor Wednesday morning at a local independent pharmacy in Mechanicsville. Standing in Mechanicsville Drug Store, a family-owned business that’s nearly 70 years old, Spanberger drove home her legislative priorities to lower prescription drug costs and close rural health care gaps in the state.
Spanberger holds 4-point lead over Earle-Sears in Virginia FREE poll
Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, holds a four-percentage-point lead over Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the race for governor in a new poll commissioned by Virginia FREE, a statewide business advocacy organization. Spanberger, who stepped down in January after three terms representing a formerly Republican swing district in Congress, holds a 52-48% lead over Earle-Sears, according to a poll of 1,000 likely Virginia voters that two firms, Pantheon Insight and HarrisX, conducted for Virginia FREE. The margin of error in the poll is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
‘All hands on deck moment’ as Virginia faces federal challenges
Virginia budget leaders delivered a blunt challenge to Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday about the economic threats that residents of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads face as President Donald Trump slashes the government workforce and spending. Meantime, Youngkin joined 19 other Republican governors in a letter to Trump, endorsing his package of big tax cuts and spending cuts, which the president is urging congressional Republicans to pass.
Virginia renters make modest gains from lawmakers in the General Assembly
As rental housing costs continue to rise, Virginia lawmakers passed a few modest measures this year to reduce fees, offer tenants more protections and boost housing for Navy sailors. More ambitious proposals, including potential rent controls, failed to win broad approval. Several members expressed frustration about the state’s inability to address what is typically a tenant’s largest monthly expense: rent. “We are at a point where, if we do not make significant changes, it will get exponentially worse, and I don’t think everyone is clued in on that enough,” said Del. Marcia Price, D-Newport News.
Miyares wants U.S. agencies to intervene in Va. magnet school’s admissions
The admissions process at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology was challenged again this week as Virginia’s attorney general and an activist group aimed to revive a debate over whether the policy unfairly discriminates against Asian American students. Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R) on Wednesday said that his office had completed a two-year investigation into the admissions process at Thomas Jefferson, the prestigious Northern Virginia magnet school locally known as TJ. He said the probe found that the Fairfax County district’s decision to switch to a more holistic admissions policy violated the Virginia Human Rights Act and the federal Civil Rights Act.
‘It was not an accident’: Va. AG says Thomas Jefferson High School’s admissions policy violates civil rights laws
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said he’s found proof of racial discrimination tied to Fairfax County Public Schools’ admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson High School, even though the admissions policy was litigated all the way to the Supreme Court and ruled constitutional. Miyares announced the findings of his investigation Wednesday at the Korean Community Center in Annandale, not far away from the high school.
Miyares accuses Fairfax County school system of anti-Asian discrimination in Thomas Jefferson High admissions
The battle over Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology’s student admissions policy isn’t quite over after all. More than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court passed on an opportunity to weigh in, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares accused Fairfax County Public Schools today (Wednesday) of “intentional” discrimination against Asian American students applying to the magnet school in Annandale. A state investigation found that acceptance of Asian American students to Thomas Jefferson High School (also known as TJ) has declined since the Fairfax County School Board updated its admissions policy five years ago — a result that Miyares claims was “the intended outcome.”
Virginia’s governor says Arlington County ‘standing in the way’ of federal immigration enforcement
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin slammed Arlington County on Wednesday for breaking an agreement with immigration authorities, a week after the county just outside of the nation’s capital voted to stop alerting federal agents when they arrest migrants accused of violent crimes. Mr. Youngkin, a Republican, delivered the broadside while celebrating the arrest of more than 1,000 illegal immigrants suspected of major crimes as part of an ongoing operation by the Virginia Homeland Security Task Force.
Del. Gilbert says he will step down as leader if the caucus has new elections
House Republican Caucus Leader Todd Gilbert has told colleagues he will step down if they call for a new leadership election — a move that comes as he’s in the running for the U.S. attorney position in Virginia’s Western District. “The team we’ve built can’t afford sudden disruptions—either in planning or leadership,” Gilbert said in a statement to Virginia Scope Wednesday night. All 100 House seats are up for election this November. Democrats currently hold a 51-49 majority. “This election is absolutely critical for the future of our Commonwealth,” Gilbert continued.