The White House blasted New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill after the Democrat announced plans to create a public portal intended to track the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Sherrill outlined the initiative during an appearance on the television program “The Daily Show,” encouraging residents to document encounters with federal immigration agents and upload video evidence through a state‑supported platform.
“We want documentation, and we are going to make sure we get it,” Sherrill began.
“We are going to be standing up a portal so people can upload all their cell videos and alert people. If you see an ICE agent in the street, get your phone out, we want to know.”
During the interview, the newly sworn-in governor cited two deaths she connected to confrontations with immigration agents in Minneapolis, identifying the individuals as Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
She slammed federal officers for shooting Pretti “execution style,” describing the incident as “unacceptable.”
“They have not been forthcoming,” she remarked about ICE. “They will pick people up. They will not tell us who they are. They will not tell us if they’re here legally. They won’t check. They’ll pick up American citizens.”
White House officials framed the proposal as undermining federal law enforcement.
Abigail Jackson, a spokesperson for the administration, said the governor’s emphasis should instead be placed on targeting undocumented immigrants accused of crimes.
“If Sherill was as committed to tracking down criminal illegal aliens as she was ICE officers, New Jersey residents would be much safer,” Jackson commented.
She further told Fox News Digital that “ICE officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults because of dangerous, untrue smears by elected Democrats.”
“Just the other day, an officer had his finger bitten off by a radical left‑wing rioter,” Jackson added.
“ICE officers act heroically to enforce the law and protect American communities, and local officials should work with them, not against them.”
Sherrill’s office defended the policy direction and indicated additional measures could follow.
Sean Higgins, a spokesperson for the governor, said the administration views the initiative as part of broader efforts to address what it considers federal overreach.
“Keeping New Jerseyans safe is Governor Sherrill’s top priority,” Higgins said. “In the coming days, she and acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport will announce additional actions to protect New Jerseyans from federal overreach.”
The debate unfolded as another newly elected Democratic governor announced separate steps affecting state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger issued an executive order establishing new law enforcement policies grounded in what her administration described as long‑standing guiding principles for policing.
A press release stated that law enforcement “exists to preserve human life” and emphasized that “public trust is a prerequisite to effective policing.”
The statement also said Virginia law enforcement “does not engage in fear‑based policing, enforcement theater, or actions that create barriers to people seeking assistance in their time of need.”
Spanberger directed agencies to review existing procedures and training to ensure alignment with the outlined standards.
In announcing the review, she described concerns that federal enforcement approaches were affecting relationships between police and communities.
“As a former federal law enforcement officer and the daughter of a career law enforcement officer, I know that effective policing is built on trust,” Spanberger said.
“Like so many of Virginia’s law enforcement officers, I have serious concerns that chaotic federal law enforcement actions across the country are eroding years of trust built by our officers within the communities they serve.”
“When state and local law enforcement are pulled away from investigating crimes and upholding our Virginia laws to do the job of federal agents, it weakens their ability to deepen trust within their communities,” she added.
“This contributes to a culture of fear and distrust that makes it harder for officers to do their jobs.”
“Today, Virginia is taking important steps to both reaffirm the core responsibilities of our officers and help build public trust in Virginians who wear the badge.”
In a separate directive announced the same day, Spanberger ordered state agencies to terminate existing agreements with ICE under the federal government’s 287(g) program.
Her administration said those arrangements placed state officers under federal supervision to carry out civil immigration enforcement tasks.
The 287(g) program allows ICE to delegate certain immigration enforcement authorities to trained local officers under agency oversight.
According to ICE’s website, more than 30 law enforcement agencies in Virginia currently participate in such agreements, with most operating under the “Task Force Model.”
That model permits officers to exercise limited immigration authority, including identifying immigrants during activities such as DUI checkpoints and sharing information with federal authorities.
Spanberger’s office said the administration had reviewed agreements signed in 2025 that it contended required agencies to place personnel under federal control.
“These agreements forced Virginia law enforcement agencies to hand over their men and women to be supervised by ICE,” the governor’s office wrote.
The policy shift drew commentary from former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who discussed the program during an appearance on MS NOW’s “The Briefing.”
Johnson characterized such partnerships as widely beneficial for public safety. “287(g) agreements are, in general, a good idea, for reasons of public safety and law enforcement,” Johnson said. “If you want to get at the worst of the worst, you’re going to find the worst of the worst in our jails.”
“Local law enforcement will encounter the worst of the worst undocumented,” he noted.
“And so, there need to be partnerships between federal and local law enforcement to go after these people.”
He added that federal actions affecting ICE’s relationships with local departments could complicate cooperation.
“This is what the Trump administration said they would do. Unfortunately, they’re countering that by making ICE in these big cities toxic,” he continued.
“No one wants to work with them. And so, in Democratic administrations, like the one I was in, we spent years trying to rebuild these relationships for reasons of public safety.”
The Republican Party of Virginia issued a statement criticizing the governor’s decision and accusing her of mischaracterizing immigration enforcement officers.
From her very first hours in office, Abigail Spanberger has shamefully smeared and defamed the brave men and women of ICE while launching bad-faith attacks on their efforts to identify, arrest, and deport violent criminal illegal aliens.
Now Fake Moderate Spanberger is… https://t.co/NY0r5NWCOZ
— Virginia GOP (@VA_GOP) February 5, 2026
“From her very first hours in office, Abigail Spanberger has shamefully smeared and defamed the brave men and women of ICE while launching bad‑faith attacks on their efforts to identify, arrest, and deport violent criminal illegal aliens,” the statement said.
The party further argued the directive would weaken public safety, adding that Spanberger was “attempting to turn Virginia into a sanctuary jurisdiction” and asserting that residents “deserve leaders who will use every available resource to arrest and prosecute violent criminals.”
