According to a Fox News report, many of the cities highlighted as America’s “safest” in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025–2026 Best Places to Live crime category are located in states or counties that encourage or mandate some level of cooperation with federal immigration enforcement—often via 287(g) agreements, which allow trained local officers to perform certain immigration-enforcement functions under ICE oversight.
Johns Creek, Georgia—a metro-Atlanta suburb repeatedly cited as the top-ranked “safest” community in the U.S. News crime subcategory—is governed under Georgia’s HB 1105 / Criminal Alien Track and Report Act of 2024, signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, which pushes local agencies toward cooperation and adds penalties for “sanctuary” restrictions.
Georgia officials framed that legislation in the political wake of the Laken Riley case, using it to argue for tougher coordination with federal authorities.
“If you are in our country illegally and committing crimes, you have no place in Georgia,” Gov. Brian Kemp said after signing the law.
The list also includes places in jurisdictions where cooperation policy is contested or shifting. Centreville, Virginia sits in Fairfax County, where county leadership has faced scrutiny for limits on ICE-detainer handling and broader “sanctuary” constraints, while Virginia’s statewide posture recently changed after Gov. Abigail Spanberger moved to unwind her predecessor’s ICE-cooperation order involving state police.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed cities’ cooperation with ICE during a recent press briefing.
Watch the clip below:
“7 of the Top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE, and we’ve seen a historic turnaround in safety in cities that have chosen to cooperate with ICE.”
Instead of working with President Trump to make communities safe, Democrats are defending criminals. pic.twitter.com/YWiGfLoZOd
— GOP (@GOP) January 26, 2026
