Last Updated on April 9, 2025
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is weighing in on a pivotal race for sheriff in tidewater Virginia on behalf of a lawless, open-borders sheriff more in line with George Soros and Joe Biden than with the America First mandate Americans delivered last November.
Youngkin, of Carlyle & Co. infamy, waded out of the Richmond swamp to rub his globalist stench all over Sheriff Dave Rosado, of Chesapeake, Virginia, outright lying and claiming that Dave Rosado has been working hard with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Youngkin’s dubious claim that Sheriff Rosado is tough on crime is far from the truth, however, as the public record shows.
Yesterday, on April 8, Youngkin tweeted the following:
“Sheriff Rosado and the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office are doing it right—working with ICE to follow the law, uphold best practices, and protect Virginians. Their work aligns with my Executive Order and the Virginia Homeland Security Task Force, and helps keep our communities safe.”
Sheriff Rosado and the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office are doing it right—working with ICE to follow the law, uphold best practices, and protect Virginians. Their work aligns with my Executive Order and the Virginia Homeland Security Task Force, and helps keep our communities safe. pic.twitter.com/eQH8lko85B
— Governor Glenn Youngkin (@GovernorVA) April 8, 2025
Youngkin’s glowing endorsement of Rosado openly ignores Rosado’s catch-and-release history and his ongoing failure to join ICE’s key programs.
Rosado’s Illegal Alien Catch-and-Release Scam: BUSTED
Up until March 27, 2025, Sheriff Rosado’s policies were a textbook example of non-compliance with federal immigration enforcement.
According to Chesapeake’s Standard Operating Instructions Section 2.7, detainees with ICE detainers were only held until 11:50 PM on their scheduled release date—far short of the 48-hour hold period ICE recommends to allow agents to take custody.
If ICE couldn’t pick up the detainee by this arbitrary deadline, they were released back into the community, no questions asked.
In the event of an arrest of an illegal alien, ICE’s official recommendation is a 48 hour hold — which means that the sheriff’s office would hold an arrested individual for 48 hours beyond their planned release date, in an effort to cooperate with federal authorities and to keep the community safe.
That 48 hour timeline is in essence a detainer request ICE makes so that they can enforce immigration laws.
Rosado’s office openly flouted that spirit of cooperation between state, county, and federal law enforcement agencies intended to protect the safety of U.S. citizens residing in Virginia.
According to the National Immigrant Justice Center:
ICE issues a detainer to local law enforcement to request that they keep immigrants in jail for up to an additional 48 hours after the local agency’s authority to detain the individual has ended. This detainer request allows ICE to pick the individual up and place them in immigration detention.
Rosado’s posture toward ICE was the same type of policy Joe Biden’s sanctuary cities run by Democrats adopted. It is a factual statement that Rosado’s office could not possibly do less to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
This wasn’t an oversight by Rosado; it was a deliberate catch-and-release policy that Rosado signed off on as recently as November 1, 2024.
As reported by The Bull Elephant, a widely read Virginia blog, Sheriff Dave Rosado has “been running a sanctuary city jail right under our noses.”
O’Sullivan operated a sanctuary city jail under Biden, and instead of cleaning up that mess, Rosado is continuing the same reckless, woke policies—defying President Trump’s efforts to keep us safe. Now, as he seeks election for the first time, his refusal to cooperate with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) stands as one of the most alarming political scandals in Chesapeake’s recent history—a betrayal that puts our communities at serious risk.
READ: Release ‘Em Rosado’s Sanctuary Scandal: Betraying Trump and Putting Chesapeake at Risk!
Having been exposed for his Biden-esque policy stance, and facing a spirited challenge from Wallace Chadwick, Sheriff Rosado and the GOP establishment are scurrying for the shadows.
Facing a June Republican primary, Sheriff Dave Rosado of Chesapeake, Virginia, is now trying to forge a public image as a tough-on-crime lawman who claims to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with federal immigration authorities.
In a March 29, 2025, email to voters, Rosado boasted that his office has “honored every ICE detainer issued to our office and fully cooperated with federal
immigration authorities to keep criminals off our streets.”
But a damning investigation into his policies reveals a starkly different reality—one of catch-and-release practices that put dangerous individuals back into the community, a sudden policy flip under pressure, and a refusal to fully align with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) standards.
And Governor Glenn Youngkin rushing to provide political cover for Rosado’s deception raises serious questions about Youngkin’s commitment to public safety and conservative principles.
ICE DETAINERS & ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports show that nearly 40% of non-detained migrants failed to appear for court dates between 2014 and 2020, while ICE data from 2019 indicates that over 90% of released migrants who abscond are never successfully removed.
Rosado’s strict same-day release deadline didn’t just undermine ICE—it put Chesapeake residents at risk by allowing potentially dangerous individuals to slip through the cracks.
As two-faced politicians often do, Rosado flipped when the media spotlights turned on.
On March 27, 2025, he quietly revised his policy to align with ICE’s 48-hour hold period and improve notification practices.
Why the sudden change?
Press reports in a number of outlets, including the popular Bull Elephant, and several local leaders, including Rosado’s challenger Wallace Chadwick, were behind that spotlight.
Rosado’s new public safety conversion was not a principled stand—it was political survival.
The Bull Elephant published a scathing article titled “Release ‘Em Rosado’s Sanctuary Scandal: Betraying Trump and Putting Chesapeake at Risk!,” accusing Rosado of betraying public safety and even former President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.
Facing a voter backlash, Rosado publicly announced the “new” policy on April 3, 2025, acting as if it had been his stance all along.
A conveniently timed fluff piece on 13 News Now that same day praised his “cooperation” with ICE, a transparent public relations stunt to whitewash his dangerous record.
Rosado’s Ongoing Failure: Not Even on ICE’s Radar
Even with his last-minute policy tweak, Rosado’s commitment to federal immigration enforcement remains dubious.
As of today, April 8, 2025, Chesapeake is neither listed as a participating agency in ICE’s 287(g) program nor among jurisdictions pending approval.
The 287(g) program allows local law enforcement to assist ICE in identifying and detaining criminal illegal aliens, a cornerstone of effective cooperation. Rosado’s refusal to join—or even apply—flies in the face of his “full cooperation” claims and leaves a gaping hole in Chesapeake’s immigration enforcement efforts.
Similarly, there’s no evidence that Chesapeake fully participates in the Secure Communities program, which uses fingerprint data to flag criminal illegal aliens for ICE.
Without these tools, Rosado’s office is effectively blind to the immigration status of arrestees, letting high-risk individuals walk free. His March 27 policy change might look good on paper, but without these critical programs, it’s little more than a half-measure designed to dodge accountability.
Youngkin’s Cover-Up: A Moderate Masquerading as a Conservative
Enter Governor Glenn Youngkin, who on April 8, 2025, posted a tweet (https://x.com/GovernorVA/status/1909664969630581218) praising Rosado’s “leadership” and
claiming that Virginia sheriffs are “working hand-in-hand with ICE to keep our communities safe.”
This glowing endorsement conveniently ignores Rosado’s catch-and-release history and his ongoing failure to join ICE’s key programs.
Why would Youngkin prop up a sheriff with such a shaky record? The answer lies in Youngkin’s own complicated relationship with Trump and his immigration agenda.
Youngkin has a history of playing both sides when it comes to Trump.
During his 2021 gubernatorial campaign, he courted Trump’s base to secure the Republican nomination but dodged direct questions about supporting Trump’s 2024 run, famously joking about an “over/under” on how often his opponent mentioned Trump’s name.
Since taking office, Youngkin has occasionally clashed with Trump’s priorities. In 2023, Trump blasted Youngkin on Truth Social, calling him “weak on crime” and a “RINO” after Youngkin hesitated to fully endorse Trump’s border security rhetoric.
Trump even mocked Youngkin’s name, saying it “sounds Chinese” in a 2022 rant, signaling deep distrust.
Yet Youngkin has also tried to appease moderates, most notably by signing a same-sex marriage bill in March 2024—a move that infuriated conservatives and tanked his standing with Trump’s base. Now, by defending Rosado, Youngkin is doubling down on this moderate streak, shielding a sheriff whose policies have obstructed Trump’s ICE efforts for months.
It’s no surprise that a governor Trump warned us about is playing political games to prop up his allies, but the real losers are the people of Chesapeake, left vulnerable while these leaders prioritize optics over safety.
Rosado is locked in a battle with challenger Wallace Chadwick that will prove to be decisive for Chesapeake.
Sheriff Rosado’s flip-flopping and Governor Youngkin’s complicity are a betrayal of conservative values and public trust. Rosado hid behind catch-and-release policies until the spotlight got too bright, and even now, he’s not fully committed to ICE’s mission.
Youngkin, meanwhile, is more interested in burnishing his moderate credentials than holding his allies accountable.
Political trends in Virginia indicate that they’re looking for Rule-of-Law centric leadership more in line with Donald Trump than with open-border, soros style Globalists who won’t waver on public safety or bow to political pressure.
Wallace Chadwick, the conservative in this race, has consistently championed tough immigration enforcement and transparency, not last-minute PR stunts. It’s time to reject the gamesmanship of Rosado and Youngkin and elect a sheriff who puts Chesapeake first.
