McAuliffe makes time for fundraisers, but not to respond on immigration

By Kathryn Watson | Watchdog.org, Virginia Bureau

ALEXANDRIA, Va.— Gov. Terry McAuliffe has yet to respond to questions about his plans to address the border crisis, which is affecting Virginia.

Watchdog.org, which has made repeated attempts to reach the governor’s office over the past 10 days, has reported on facilities in Prince William County and Alexandria housing undocumented, unaccompanied minors along with troubled young U.S. citizens. And there are unconfirmed reports of more housing locations in other parts of the state.

But the governor has too many things on his plate to say anything about undocumented minors in Virginia, or how he plans to address the issue. Here are just a few things the governor has made time to do since the beginning of last week.

1. Raise money out West

McAuliffe set foot in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Wednesday for a fundraiser thrown by billionaire Ron Burkle, then travels to Aspen, Colo., for another fundraiser Thursday thrown by Samia Farouki.

Burke has been a major Clinton donor, while the Faroukis are big Democratic donors who live in Northern Virginia but own a home in Colorado.

2. Host a bluegrass event in London to promote Virginia tourism

Last week, McAuliffe hosted a bluegrass event at the Village Underground in London to promote Virginia tourism.

It was pretty tough to miss the “LOVE” signs posted to promote Virginia’s tourism and travel slogan, “Virginia is for lovers.”

The governor spent five days in the United Kingdom to promote business in Virginia.

3. Visit China to meet with business officials to persuade them to set up shop in VA

On the same international trade trip that included the United Kingdom, McAuliffe took three days to meet with business officials in China. At one point on the trip in Shanghai, the governor made a pitch to more than 100 business executives at once.

McAuliffe is far from the first governor to make that kind of visit. Former Gov. Bob McDonnell, whose corruption trial on another matter begins Monday, visited China on trade trips.

4. Make a public appearance with President Obama in Washington, D.C.

On Monday, Obama signed an executive order banning workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of federal contractors and the federal government. And McAuliffe made the trip to Washington, D.C., to stand by the president in support.

Kathryn Watson is an investigative reporter for Watchdog.org’s Virginia Bureau.