Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger is facing sharp criticism following her remarks about a recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation that resulted in the arrest of two criminal illegal immigrants in Virginia, as reported by Fox News.
The incident, which took place at a courthouse, involved the detention of Teodoro Dominguez-Rodriguez, a Honduran national, and Pablo Aparicio Marcelino, a Mexican national.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital that both men had prior criminal records.
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Dominguez-Rodriguez was described by DHS as a “violent illegal alien” with “multiple arrests for assault and battery as well as an outstanding order of protection against him.”
Marcelino was identified as a “criminal illegal alien” with “multiple arrests for failing to stop at the scene of an accident, driving without a license, and driving under the influence.”
Spanberger’s concerns about how the arrests were conducted drew immediate pushback from her Republican opponent, Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
Press secretary for Earle-Sears, Peyton Vogel, stated:
“Abigail Spanberger’s outrage over criminal illegal immigrants being taken off our streets is everything Virginians need to know about what kind of governor she’d be — criminals first, victims last.”
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“She created this mess when she voted in Washington to keep criminal migrants here, and now she wants to stand in the way of cleaning it up.”
Spanberger’s campaign responded by stating she supports removing violent illegal immigrants but took issue with how ICE carried out the operation.
“Abigail believes that violent criminals who are in the United States illegally should not be allowed to stay and that immigration enforcement should be focused on removing these individuals.”
They added, “As a former federal law enforcement officer who worked narcotics cases, Abigail executed warrants and arrested criminals. And as Abigail made clear to the Daily Progress, she made these arrests in uniform, displaying her badge and arrest warrant to those taken into custody.”
Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary at DHS, defended the courthouse raids, calling them “common sense.”
“It conserves valuable law enforcement resources because they already know where a target will be. It is also safer for our officers and the community,” McLaughlin said. “These illegal aliens have gone through security and been screened to not have any weapons.”
McLaughlin also addressed Spanberger’s implication that ICE agents failed to identify themselves.
“When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as police while wearing masks to protect themselves from being targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers,” she said.
McLaughlin further criticized the selective outrage, saying:
“It is interesting that the media who are so concerned with our law enforcement officers wearing masks to protect themselves don’t say a word about the terrorist sympathizers on U.S. college campuses who cowardly wear masks as they do the bidding of terrorist organizations that relish the killing of Americans and Jews.”
Earle-Sears, who is endorsed by outgoing Governor Glenn Youngkin, will face Spanberger in the general election this November. Immigration has become a central issue in the campaign, with Earle-Sears recently releasing an ad attacking Spanberger’s past opposition to a border wall.
Spanberger’s team dismissed the ad as a distraction, stating she has “led bipartisan bills that were signed into law by both President Trump and President Biden to disrupt fentanyl trafficking at our ports of entry, combat Mexican cartels and secure our borders.”
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