VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — In a visit to Hampton Roads on Monday, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin reiterated his support for many of the promises President-elect Donald Trump made while on the campaign trail.
Many of these promises center on immigration and the overhaul of the Department of Education, to which Virginia's governor said he would aid and cooperate with the federal government.
"You don't have to look further than Fairfax County just in the last few months where there have been horrific crimes by illegal immigrants," Youngkin said. "Trump has left no questions about those folks getting sent home, and that's exactly what we should be doing."
President-elect Trump has promised a massive overhaul of the nation's policy on immigration and deportation, promising the largest deportation project in American history. According to the American Immigration Council, there are roughly 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, and 250,000 live in Virginia.
Youngkin told 13News Now on Monday that he supports deporting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes, but did not go into detail on how such illegal immigrants would be identified or detained.
As for overhauling the Department of Education, Youngkin signaled his support for relegating educational responsibility back to the states.
"It's allowing the states to do what we do best," he said after a Veterans Day event in Virginia Beach. "Quality education is defined at the state level. We are the ones driving forward excellence in our standards. We are the ones putting in the support for extensive tutoring and to combat chronic absenteeism."
Trump has repeatedly promised to dismantle the Department of Education, suggesting it is a waste of tax-payer money as "we are absolutely at the bottom, we're one of the worst," in comparison to other nations.
Trump has also called for pulling federal funding for school divisions that teach Critical Race Theory, gender ideology, or political content in schools.
On Youngkin's first day in office, his first executive order was to sign a ban on the use of Critical Race Theory or related "inherently divisive concepts." Several educators denounced the action as "missing the mark" as CRT was not taught at any Virginia K-12 public schools.
Youngkin told 13News Now that he will not join Trump's cabinet and will serve out his term as Governor of Virginia.