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One of the biggest political issues in the country landed squarely in our backyard this week.
We’re still gathering facts about Tuesday’s joint Greene County Sheriff’s Office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Ruckersville. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s what we’ve been able to learn so far. We’ll be publishing more reports in the coming days and weeks.
As we continue reporting on the operation, our CEO and Editor-in-Chief Angilee Shah reminded me that issues surrounding immigration were some of the most common questions voters brought up in our annual Voter Survey. (Take the survey here.) So, we had already asked every central Virginia primary candidate running for Congress this year to tell us where they stand.
In the 5th District Democratic primary, Rob Tracinski said it is time to “dissolve the Department of Homeland Security” where ICE is housed, while Tom Perriello said resources should be reallocated to other priorities, including “real border security and clearing the backlog of administrative law cases.” Suzanne Krzyzanowski said, “ICE needs to be re-focused on pursuing criminals, not people who have been living in the U.S. for decades.”
Here’s more of what they said:
Congress has the power to fund, oversee and reshape federal agencies like ICE. What changes, if any, would you support making to the agency?
Rob Tracinski: We should dissolve the Department of Homeland Security, which was created in a post-9/11 panic.* DHS took a lot of things that are not about terrorism, like immigration, and put them under an agency that treats everything like it’s terrorism. ICE definitely fits that description — with the added irony that it is the entity actually terrorizing our communities. The DHS should be broken up and its legitimate functions returned to other agencies.
Editor’s note
*After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush established the Office of Homeland Security by executive order. The Department of Homeland Security was officially established by Congress under the Homeland Security Act in November 2002.
Tom Perriello: The urgent, colossal threat to American jobs is from automation, not immigration. But, for the geriatric leaders of both parties, it’s easier to exaggerate threats from immigrants than level with the American people about the potentially catastrophic threats from AI. We can and must protect our borders, our Constitution, and our humanity. If DOGE* had cared about cutting government waste, they could have started with the fact that ICE is a redundant federal agency that bloats the federal bureaucracy and hurts public safety. We cannot afford to waste $80 billion on untrained federal agents** that are undermining the trust local law enforcement has built through community policing.*** That money is better spent on real border security and clearing the backlog of administrative law cases for the millions who have followed the rules but now live in fear.
Editor’s notes
*DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency.
**After ICE agents shot and killed Alex Pretti during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis, media outlets scrutinized the training of immigration enforcement personnel. In February 2026, MPR News reported allegations from a whistleblower that some officers involved in immigration enforcement operations had received inadequate training. The Department of Homeland Security disputed those claims and said it had expanded training requirements.
***Under legislation dubbed the “One big beautiful bill” by President Trump and enacted July 2025, ICE’s budget expanded to $85 billion compared to less than $6 billion a decade ago, according to reporting from NPR.
Suzanne Krzyzanowski: ICE needs to be re-focused on pursuing criminals, not people who have been living in the U.S. for decades as good neighbors and hard workers. We need to give the good people who are here long term, often with American children, a chance to pay a fine and then start the process to eventually become citizens. But we also need to continue to keep tight control of the border.
Read the full Q&A with 5th District Democratic primary candidates here, including questions about housing costs and presidential powers.
For candidates in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, your questions focused more on how immigration policies affect labor in Virginia. On this point, the Republican candidates all expressed support for reducing unauthorized immigration. Bert Mizausawa said he supports “making legal immigration for those seeking the American Dream available,” while Kim Farington said that foreign workers should only be allowed to enter the country if they are “truly needed.” And David Williams said he believes unauthorized immigration will drive down wages.
Here’s how they explained their positions:
Some employers in agriculture, hospitality and other industries say they rely on immigrant workers, while some voters support stricter immigration enforcement. How should the nation’s immigration system address both of those concerns?
Bert Mizusawa: We must keep our borders secure while making legal immigration for those seeking the American Dream available. Those who broke the law and came here illegally should not be given a free path to citizenship over those choosing to do it legally.
Kim Farington: I am a pro-immigration law enforcement candidate. Only properly documented workers should be allowed to work in this country, and only if there are not enough Virginians/Americans to fill those positions. If temporary foreign workers are truly needed and legally brought into the country (like for summer tourism jobs), they should not be paid less than American workers to make sure that companies do not ever undercut the American wage.
David Williams: Stricter immigration enforcement is key to Virginia’s future. Illegal immigrants undercut American workers and drive down wages. We need to make sure Virginia high school and college students have a level playing field in the job market when they graduate. Securing our border and removing illegal immigrants is key to protecting American workers and increasing wages for everyone.*
Editor’s note
*Research generally finds that immigration has little effect on wages overall. However, some studies have found negative wage effects for workers who compete directly with new immigrants, particularly earlier immigrants and U.S.-born workers without high school diplomas. You can read more in this 2017 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report, this explainer from the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute and this Economic Policy Institute: Unauthorized Immigrants and the Economy report.
Read the full Q&A with Republican U.S. Senate primary candidates here, including questions about data centers and local control.
Thanks, as always, for reading!
We’re still reporting on Tuesday’s ICE operation, so if you have firsthand information to share, please get in touch here. And if there are questions you want us to ask candidates in the general election this fall, fill out the Voter Survey, too. Our best reporting starts with people who are impacted by the issues pointing us in the right direction.
Want to meet us in person? We’ll be with the Central Virginia Voter Guide at the fair in Orange County on Saturday.
Until next week,
Jessie Higgins, Democracy Editor
