Posted on 01/27/2026 4:59:12 AM PST by MtnClimber
With Democrats pushing a number of progressive policies now that they are in control of Virginia, a Virginia state Democrat is working to ban immigration agents from operating near polling places.
Democrat Virginia Del. Alfonso H. Lopez introduced the bill, which has been described as a “safeguard.” The bill, HB 1442, would amend the Code of Virginia to prohibit law enforcement from “any act for the purpose or in furtherance of enforcement of federal immigration laws” within 40 feet of a polling place.
The move has left Republicans wondering why a Democrat would move to prevent immigration law enforcement at polling places if Democrats believe illegal immigrants are not voting in Virginia elections.
“My Republican colleagues and I were shocked at the brazenness of this bill,” Virginia Del. Anne Ferrell Tata told The Daily Signal.
“First, states can’t restrict the actions of the federal government. But more importantly, what’s the purpose behind this bill? Democrats tell us illegal aliens aren’t voting. It’s quite a coincidence,” Tata continued.
This is not the only election integrity bill Virginia Democrats have pushed since taking the majority this month.
Democrat Virginia Del. Marcia S. Price introduced HB 968 to ban hand-counting paper ballots, and Democrat state Sen. Barbara Favola introduced SB 58 to extend the deadline for accepting absentee ballots.
“I think they owe the people an explanation of the logic behind these bills,” said Dave Brat, a former Virginia congressman and Virginia state delegate. He spoke with The Daily Signal about his frustration with this bill and the many more that would impact voter and election integrity.
“I don’t think anybody ran on these things. I have never heard anything about that,” Brat continued.
“Virginians have to look at the whole package. There’s five or six [introduced bills] and all have to do with making voting less transparent and more problematic,” Brat said.
“All these bills are a march to the left, and all you have to do is take a look at the left states and their performance,” Brat continued. “Minneapolis right now is rioting all across the streets because local law enforcement won’t cooperate with the federal. Everywhere where the local does cooperate with the federal, there’s peace and quiet and harmony,” Brat added.
Lopez did not provide a comment to The Daily Signal.
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Asking such questions will, in the future, cause a big reduction in your social credit score.
Democrat policies all depend on having a society of stupid people who don’t see what is happening in front of their faces.
Either that, or all of the elections are complete shams and the Democrats just do what they want without the voters playing a role at all.
Has ICE ever went to polling places?
I am going with your choice # 2.
I believe that every state is a Red state, if the elections are honest.
I want every last illegal deported. But I could see accented, Hispanic, American voters especially being intimidated if they had to make it through an ICE gauntlet.
Very bad optics across the board IMO. (And they’re not serious about deportations unless they shut off the obvious money, employment, and housing spigots—and arrest those harboring illegals.)
Federal law supremacy makes such laws meaningless political statements as well as an admission of guilt...
They ran on "being democRATs". All these things are included.
All the "republicans" who didn't vote because Winsome Earle-Sears wasn't "exciting", or "was a bad candidate", or "wasn't MAGA" (whatever that means), or "was a never-trumper" (whatever that means) shoulder the blame for this disaster.
Vote for the boring Republican ... or get communism.
For the same reason lib dems used ballot harvesting and mail in ballots and proxy voting, etc. in the 2020 election; to steal it.
Democrats have proven over and over they can’t honestly win elections because they have nothing positive to offer.
Many have said that if Representative apportionment was based not upon a raw head count rather than a count of USA citizens only:
a) there would be many more red states,
b) democRats wouldn’t give a flying fook about illegals.
Legal non-citizen immigrants can’t vote either, so who indeed is “intimidated” by ICE being near a polling place?
Note that the bill specifies “within 40 feet of a polling place”. If the limit stayed at 40 feet, the law would have little effect — but once started, will the distance grow and grow?
I am not for anything the Democrats are doing. But I sure am impressed with how they go about doing it. The Republicans are paper tigers with filing cabinets full of nothing but “strongly worded” letters and the Democrats know it. The end justifies the means and weakness on the right only helps move us closer to the violence the left craves.
It is long overdue to suppress that organization.
The state cannot ban ICE from anywhere. More stupid democrats at work.
It is not intended to ban ICE. It is intended for election propaganda targeting low IQ voters.
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