President Trump’s new FBI Director Kash Patel reported on Monday on X: “Today the FBI’s Virginia Homeland Security Taskforce arrested 39 individuals, including MS13 and other gang members, as part of our mission to secure the border and enforce immigration laws. Thank you to all our partners bravely doing their jobs and executing the mission.”
Comments on X are usually dominated by MAGA adherents in fervent support of Trump, X owner Elon Musk and his DOGE efforts, and the administration’s immigration reform initiatives. But the majority of responses on Patel’s post — also by MAGA adherents — express cynicism about the FBI arrest report and a desire for more arrests.
Today the FBI’s Virginia Homeland Security Taskforce arrested 39 individuals, including MS13 and other gang members, as part of our mission to secure the border and enforce immigration laws.
Thank you to all our partners bravely doing their jobs and executing the mission. pic.twitter.com/n5qz55CbRE
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) March 4, 2025
As one replied: “It was supposed to be more. I already seen the leak that Virginia was going to have raids days ago. Until the leaking stops, the numbers, though great, will never be significant.”
Another chimed in: “Not trying to upstage ya here, but me and the boys could have doubled that and still been home in time for dinner.”
Another wrote: “Great work, but this is just cleanup how about stopping them at the border?” And another complained: “39 a day isn’t mass deportations.”
Virginia State Senator Glen Sturtevant was more encouraging in his response: “Great start! Lots more to do.”
Great start! Lots more to do. https://t.co/CvcVwLMcMq
— Glen Sturtevant (@GlenSturtevant) March 4, 2025
Sturtevant has been doing his part in trying to make “more to do” a reality. In February, Virginia’s Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted against legislation introduced by Sturtevant that would have required the Department of Social Services (DSS) to ask about immigration status when someone is applying for social services benefits including SNAP.
Those who voted against Sturtevant’s bill noted that the subject is moot as undocumented non-citizens are not eligible for such benefits. “You have to establish legal presence in order to get these benefits,” said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell.
“The bill does not affect who is eligible and who is not for public assistance benefits,” Sturtevant said in response to Surovell. “But it does create some standardization and ensures consistency across all programs.”
Sturtevant also introduced a bill (SB 1141) that “required state and local correctional officials to notify and transfer certain incarcerated individuals to ICE upon their release,” as the Virginia Mercury reports, noting that such transfers are currently optional. It was also rejected by the committee.