According to the Washington Examiner, Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli has issued a formal opinion recognizing that state and local law enforcement officers have authority to “inquire into the immigration status of persons stopped or arrested.” The opinion, issued in response to a question from a Virginia legislator, is available here.

As Cuccinelli explains, this authority arises not (as is the case with the Arizona law) from a specific state statute directing officers to investigate immigration status, but instead from the officers’ general authority to enforce state and federal law: