Mike Lawry
Democrat Bait and Switch
When a product claims to do something but when del ive r e d fails to do the things cl a ime d , thi s i s known as “bait and switch.” Most reputable businesses will quickly return the purchasers’ money or replace the product with one that will work.
Unfortunately, this is not true with politicians as Virginians have learned. Abigail Spanberger, candidate for governor, ran as a probusiness, pro-law enforcement, and even an economic conservative wanting to make the state more affordable for all residents.
What the voters got was the opposite and she has made it clear that what she really wanted was the opposite. With her party in control of both houses of state government, a wide variety of bills were introduced and supported by the new governor that negatively impacted economic development, public safety, and targeted individual groups.
With great fanfare last year, Boeing, praising Governor Youngkin and his team, announced they were moving both the legislative offices of the company to Virginia to be closer to the federal agencies and Congress that they must deal with. But they also announced the movement of the Boeing Defense, Space and Security operations to Virginia which would have provided hundreds of jobs in manufacturing to the Commonwealth.
While, for at least now, the legislative operations will remain in Alexandria, the Defense, Space and Security operations will not be relocated in Virginia. The announcement came shortly after Spanberger announced new taxes, business regulations and policies that were not in the company’s best interests. Boeing said it was instead going to move the division operation from Virginia to Missouri, where commercial aircraft production currently exists.
While states around Virginia are having a boom in economic development in the last few years, Youngkin’s policies were showing signs that Virginia was also beginning to experience new industrial growth. A major expansion in Rockbridge County along with a longclosed plant in Appomattox reopened with a new operation and other similar stories were announced statewide but new tax proposals and policies since have had a negative impact on many of those plans.
As other states have cut taxes and regulations, Virginia is proposing over 60 new taxes despite the fact the previous administration had left Virginia with a sizeable budget surplus, even after a tax refund to the Virginia taxpayers. It appears getting tax refunds will be only a memory for Virginians for the next few years and increased taxing will become the norm.
But the bait and switch did not stop with taxes and regulations; public safety has also been impacted by the new administration and their control of the legislature. One of the first actions by the new governor was to end the Youngkin executive order calling for the state and local law enforcement to work with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to remove criminal illegal immigrants in the state.
Just prior to the new governor’s announced order, it was announced ICE and state officials had apprehended Shayan Kahhal, an illegal immigrant from Iran, at his residence near the Hampton Roads Tunnel. Kahhal was charged with the forcible rape and sodomy of a woman, as well as two different charges of sodomy of a minor male and a minor female.
In support of the governor’s action, Democratic state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim introduced a bill (passed along party line vote of 21-19) that prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from “maintaining, renewing, or entering into any federal immigration law enforcement agreements unless contains certain conditions.”
This bill also “prohibits any person acting in his capacity as a law enforcement officer to assist or cooperate with or to allow or authorize any resources to assist or cooperate with or to otherwise facilitate any operations excluded in whole or in part by federal authorities for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration law.”
Senator Salim, a native of Bangladesh in southeast Asia, won a primary victory over long-time Democratic Sen. Chap Petersen.
Ghazala Hashmi, who moved with her parents from India to America and the newly elected lieutenant governor, said the new law provides “clarity and accountability to the role of state and local law enforcement and ensures their focus remains on public safety, justice and community trust.”
As of September 2025, 4,264 illegal immigrants had been detained by ICE in cooperation with local authorities. Of these, about 29 percent had criminal convictions, 16 percent had charges pending. Some of the illegal immigrants had drug cartel or gang membership but no criminal records in this country. Others detained had overstated visas and deportation orders.
All were in the country illegally according to federal statues and ignored the offer of free transportation back to home country and a $3,000 incentive to leave the country. Those accepting self-deportation can apply for legal immigration while those deported by ICE receive no financial incentives and will be permanently banned from legal immigration into the US.
Rather than making Virginia safer, the new legislation can be seen as an invitation to illegal immigrants to move to Virginia, especially ones with criminal records.
In addition, the new governor and Democratic legislators are targeting specific groups such as gun owners with excessive new 11 percent tax of guns and ammunition purchases.
They also plan to violate the state constitution in a power grab to make a oneparty control of the state’s congressional districts rather than districts spelled out in the state constitution in a proposed special election in April. In the bait and switch style, they refer to this as the “Fair Act” — it is anything but fair and a power grab as was explained in a recent News-Gazette editorial.
Sadly, unlike products where some immediate correction is offered, politicians using “bait and switch” stick it to the voters until at least the next election — and as the “Fair Act” shows they are working to change that opportunity also.
