Two of the young victims who died in last month’s midair collision over the Potomac River had ties to a local Girl Scouts troop.

The bond Girl Scouts share is undeniable, so losing one of their own is incredibly hard.

“When your kids are that age, and then they have someone their age die, it’s just, it’s so, it’s so shocking and unbelievable,” Troop 70202 leader Helena Welch said.

Sisters Alydia and Everly Livingston – ages 11 and 14, respectively –and their parents, Donna and Peter, were on the American Airlines flight that crashed Jan. 29. They were returning from a figure skating training camp in Kansas.

The girls were immensely talented, dedicated young skaters who still made time to have fun.

“Donna wanted her daughters to be able to experience everything I think they wanted to experience,” Troop 70202 leader Alexandra Ballin said. “And, even though they had a busy schedule, Donna always said, ‘We’ll make it work. We’ll make it work.’”

Welch and Ballin lead the Girl Scouts troop Alydia was a part of. Their daughters were friends with Alydia, and they were both close with her mother.

When they learned of the Livingston family’s passing, they contacted another troop’s leader, who is a mental health expert.

“She gave us so many tools to use to have our first meeting after what happened,” Welch said. “So, we had the ability to try and discuss it with the girls in a way that they were able to express what each of them felt.”

Alydia was a member of Troop 70202 for six years. Welch and Ballin say she was their most enthusiastic cookie seller.

“She’s like a shining star,” Welch said. “She just had so much energy and so much fun. She would bring that to the troop meetings, and the girls just loved it.”

Members of the troop will attend Sunday’s Legacy on Ice performance. Welch and Ballin hope the event will allow the girls to share their grief with the loved ones of the others who were lost in the tragedy.

“It’s where we can come together and heal, in a sense, of the tragedy that has happened and have something positive come out of it,” Welch said.

Alydia’s Girl Scouts troop is working on an idea for a memorial for the Livingston family.

Sign up for our free deep-dive newsletter, The 4Front, to get standout News4 stories sent right to your inbox. Subscribe here.

VIRGINIA – Police in Virginia can now help with immigration enforcement at the local level after Governor Glen Youngkin signed an executive order Thursday that gives them the power to work alongside Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

The order that came down this afternoon is currently in effect. This means that Virginia State Police and corrections officers are now working with ICE.

Youngkin says this will keep Virginians safe from dangerous criminal illegal immigrants. He even specifically noted a northern Virginia rape case as proof this order is needed. 

Last November, a woman was raped along a trail in Herndon by a suspect who was in the country illegally and had a long history with law enforcement. 

What Does the Order Say? 

What we know:

Youngkin’s order directs localities to cooperate with 287(g), a program designed to allow law enforcement agencies to carry out federal immigration efforts, including deportation. 

This means state police can apprehend “criminal illegal immigrants who pose a risk to public safety” and jails now have to work with ice and report inmates who are incarcerated.

Read the Order

What Does This Mean?

Dig deeper:

Immigration attorneys in Virginia argue this executive order opens the door to racial profiling and creates distrust between the immigrant community and police.

“The 287(g) is not the best practice and it is a dangerous practice. It’s a dangerous practice for many immigrants who are going to continue being victims of crimes and now they are going to be afraid to report,” attorney Nash Fayad said. 

“The bottom line is, this is a fear-based tactic and fear doesn’t fight crime. Trust does. This law destroys trusts and puts everyone at risk,” attorney Alexander Miller said. 

Economic Impact:

Both attorneys who spoke with FOX 5 also pointed to the economic impact this order could have on the Commonwealth.

“It was tried in Virginia before in Prince William County. It cost the taxpayer an estimated $23 million over five years,” said Miller. “That money could be spent on other matters that would help safety and make the community safer. These are not zero sum articles, these things are going to cost money and the taxpayer is going to bear that burden ultimately, no matter what the federal government says.”

“We’ve tried this practice before, lots of businesses left Virginia. Lots of immigrants left Virginia and went either up North or further South,” Fayad added. “We lost a lot of businesses here.”

Virginia is joining a growing number of states, including Georgia, who are working with ICE to enforce immigration laws.

You might also like…