The DOJ is suing Virginia, warning the state could become a California sanctuary state

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is warning that Virginia is at risk of becoming “the next California” in the Trump administration’s fight against enforcement of the state’s immigration laws after filing a new lawsuit last week.

“We’re suing Virginia to prevent Virginia from becoming a sanctuary state, like California,” DOJ Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Brett Shumate told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview.

The lawsuit, which was first shared with Fox News Digital in early June, says Virginia is violating the Constitution by trying to regulate the operation of the federal law, which includes restrictions on agents’ masks, identification requirements and conditions for local cooperation with ICE.

“Under our Constitution, states cannot control or dictate how the federal government does its job, and that’s especially true when it comes to law enforcement. Virginia passed two bills in this new section, one that restricts the ability of law enforcement officers to wear face masks and requires officers, federal agents, to wear identification badges,” said Shumate.

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He said another bill “limits cooperative agreements between local law enforcement agencies, such as the sheriff, and ICE to voluntarily cooperate with federal law enforcement.”

The lawsuit names Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano – previously supported by groups linked to George Soros.

Although the DOJ has not heard from federal officials, Shumate said the department feels confident about the previous case because of the precedent.

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Failure to redistrict is one of Virginia Gov.’s biggest headaches. Newly elected Abigail Spanberger. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

“We brought an almost identical case in California earlier this year, and we won that case,” he said.

In April, an appeals court handed the Trump administration a legal victory over Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The court barred California from requiring federal immigration agents to show identification during operations.

He says they emphasize the same legal theory in this case.

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Anti-ICE protesters tried to block traffic from the Delaney Hall campus in Newark, New Jersey, Friday night. (FreedomNewsTV)

“Under the Constitution, the Supremacy Clause in particular, states cannot control or discriminate against the federal government,” Shumate said. “That’s exactly what Virginia did. They tried to control how the government does business. They don’t have the authority to do that under the constitution.”

Two Virginia laws will go into effect on July 1 and Shumate shared the DOJ’s plans to quickly go to a district court judge to decide whether these laws go into effect. Virginia used to be a red state, voting Republican in nearly every presidential election for decades before shifting to the left nearly 20 years ago.

“We will immediately file in the District Court in Virginia to seek an injunction to stop these laws from going into effect, these laws with criminal penalties that put federal agents at risk, not only for criminal prosecution, but also for doxing and harassment,” he added.

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ICE has defended the practice of agents hiding their identities while on duty, saying last summer that as Trump’s crackdown on immigration sparked anti-ICE protests and riots that left-wing rhetoric had created “threats and attacks on people”. [agents’] families.”

Shumate shared that the department is looking at several bills in other states that are considering mask restrictions.

“Any state that is thinking of passing this type of bill knows that we will file a case in court and we will ask to prevent those laws from going into effect,” said Shumate.