Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger rolled out a kind of political flea circus this week with an anti-ICE executive order that would purportedly keep ICE out of polling places and other commonwealth areas. It did not matter that the order has no real impact on ICE. The important thing is the appearance of an impact on ICE.
In the movie Jurassic Park, character John Hammond explained how he got a start by creating flea circuses:
“You know the first attraction I ever built when I came down south from Scotland? It was a Flea Circus, Petticoat Lane. Really quite wonderful. We had a wee trapeze, and a merry-go… carousel and a seesaw. They all moved, motorized of course, but people would say they could see the fleas. “Oh, I see the fleas, mummy! Can’t you see the fleas?” Clown fleas and high wire fleas and fleas on parade.”
Spanberger unveiled her own flea circus attraction this week with an executive order ordering state employees to get federal agents to produce a valid warrant on “property of the Commonwealth” and instructs them to “not permit” federal agents to use those areas as staging or processing locations. She told the media that this was particularly at polling sites.
The illusion was assisted by MSNOW, which portrayed one of their favorite politicians as protecting polling places and, of course, democracy. MS Now host Jonathan Capehart asked, “How concerned are you that he will send either the military or the National Guard or even ICE to polling places, and what can you do, if anything, to stop him?”
Spanberger explained ominously:
“The reality is, throughout history, we have seen efforts at intimidating voters. My worry is we will continue to see those heightened… I’ll be issuing guidance across public spaces, including polling places, of how Virginia state employees can react to federal agents who might be appearing at a location where the worry is that they’re principally there to intimidate or scare people.”
Neither, of course, mentioned that there are already federal barriers to such intrusion into polling places. For example, 18 U.S.C. 592 states in part:
“Whoever, being an officer of the Army or Navy, or other person in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States, orders, brings, keeps, or has under his authority or control any troops or armed men at any place where a general or special election is held, unless such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both; and be disqualified from holding any office of honor, profit, or trust under the United States.”
That provision includes all federal civil personnel, including ICE.
While there might be instances in which federal officials respond to requests from local or state law enforcement to address a specific criminal act, there is already a general bar on posting or stationing such personnel at polling places.
As for the suggestion of other bars on ICE operating on Commonwealth property, good luck with that. Various Democratic governors and legislatures have moved to impose limitations, which are clearly unconstitutional. Indeed, we have seen at least one judge convicted of trying to bar ICE from a courthouse and assisting the escape of an individual sought by agents.
Notably, Spanberger is aware of these limits after she vetoed a separate bill that would have banned ICE from making detentions in hospitals, schools, courthouses, and polling places without a judicial warrant or subpoena. She recognized that such laws “would create unavoidable legal liability for security personnel and local law enforcement officers when assessing federal immigration enforcement activities in certain protected areas.”
Instead, she offered an illusory executive order that reaffirmed her image as an anti-ICE governor who is cutting off ICE in the state. It is doubtful that this order will ever be challenged because it is unlikely to be actually used as authority for any action.
For diehard Democrats, they could swear that they see the fleas moving the merry-go-round.
Turley Writes:
Neither, of course, mentioned that there are already federal barriers to such intrusion into polling places.
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Since when has Donald Trump cared about Federal law??? ICE has arrested hundreds with no Federal warrants. Federal prosecutors have routinely lied in Federal court. In fact, many Federal prosecutors are only ‘acting’ as such and no real legal standing.
ICE agents NEVER needed a warrant when then are holding a deportation order from a federal immigration court for named person. Your post is 100% purse BS. Please go back on your meds. For the sake of the children.
ICE has entered numerous homes with no warrants
https://apnews.com/article/ice-arrests-warrants-minneapolis-trump-00d0ab0338e82341fd91b160758aeb2d
As usual Turley is being deliberately disingenuous and deliberately stoking the rage that he so hypocritically condemns in his stupid books and his rants here.
He says that there is no need for Spanberger’s order because there is already a federal statute that bans ICE or any other armed federal officer from polling places.
However, what he fails to say is that the enforcement of that federal statute falls to the federal authorities, not the State authorities. It presumes that Trump would enforce the statute and order that his officers do not interfere at polling places.
But Trump has already explicitly stated that he plans to order ICE agents and other federal officers to interfere in violation of the federal statute.
Spanberger is simply taking Trump at his word that he will order his officers to violate the law, and thus fail in his duty to enforce federal law.
Spanberger is simply empowering state authorities to act to protect polling places from federal agents, because Trump has explicitly stated he intends to violate the federal law.
Turley knows perfectly well that this is the reason for Spanberger’s order, and yet he deliberately and disingenuously and hypocritically and knowingly writes this screed of nonsense for the sole purpose of stoking the rage of the MAGA mob. He is stoking the very rage that he so hypocritically condemns.
ha ha ha ROFLMAO
you make the funniest posts
Nothing to do with reality of course.