Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones has faced Republican criticism over two disputes connected to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda: an investigation into Greene County Sheriff Steve Smith’s traffic-stop practices and resistance to federal access to commercial driver records. Republicans argue that Virginia’s Democratic leadership is obstructing cooperation with federal immigration authorities, while Jones’s office says it is examining whether the sheriff’s office has violated state law or constitutional protections.

The civil-rights investigation seeks records on the sheriff’s immigration policies, training and agreements with other agencies after deputies joined ICE operations in the rural county. One June operation reportedly led to 49 ICE detentions, while a separate May operation in nearby Ruckersville included the arrest of a Honduran man identified by DHS as an MS-13 member. Governor Spanberger has rescinded a previous order encouraging ICE cooperation and signed legislation limiting state and local involvement in federal civil immigration enforcement; activists allege profiling, while Smith says stops are based on ordinary traffic offences and reasonable suspicion.