ICE agents surround and detain a target during a raid in Richmond, Va., Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Masked US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been detaining Virginia residents, raising concerns about due process violations.
The Trump administration is ramping up its already-heightened crackdown on immigrants, and the impact is being felt in Virginia.
Masked US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained as many as 10 men outside an immigration court in Sterling on Wednesday, according to reporting by NBC4 Washington.
The outlet described eight men being led out of the court in handcuffs and shackles before being loaded into a van. ICE agents did not say why the men were detained or where they would be taken.
“We understand that court cases are being dismissed by the ICE prosecutors inside and people are being told they have the ability to appeal,” Sofia Saiyed, one of the activists at the scene, told NBC4 Washington. “And then telling the judge they want to appeal, and as they walk out of the courtroom, they are being detained in the hallway.”
@nbcwashington In Northern Virginia and across the United States, the Trump administration appears to be using a new tactic to ramp up deportations. Inside immigration court, government lawyers are terminating cases. Then, when people step outside, they are arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), headed for immediate deportation. On Thursday, May 29, outside the immigration court in Sterling, video shows several men who showed up for their hearings being taken into custody. Matthew Noonan documented the arrests in the parking lot for a local advocacy group, New Virginia Majority. “A lot of people, including myself, believe this is just arbitrary and cruel, what we are witnessing,” Noonan said. He said the men making the arrest were ICE agents, many in plainclothes. It’s unknown whether arrests also were made at the immigration court in Annandale, but similar scene unfolded in Miami on the same day. 🔗 Read more at the link in bio. #immigration #ICE #lamigra #trumpadministration #immigrants #deportations #virginia #northernvirginia #nova #va #maryland #md #washingtondc #dc ♬ original sound – NBC Washington
The tactic of detaining people as they follow the law and show up for their immigration hearings is being deployed in Virginia and across the country as the Trump administration puts pressure on ICE to carry out mass deportations with little regard for the law. Advocates have warned that what’s happening is a serious violation of due process, which is guaranteed to all people – regardless of citizenship status – by the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution.
NBC4 Washington also noted that an ICE agent got physical with an activist and knocked a phone out of the hands of someone trying to film what was happening.
More ICE raids are expected across the country, including in Northern Virginia.
“It is not clear that the raids in those cities will begin immediately, but all (special response team) units in those areas have been told to be ready to deploy,” anonymous sources told MSNBC.
Here in Virginia, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares have backed the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants. Youngkin told CBS6 that he “fully supports” Trump’s response to ICE protests playing out in California.
The protests began on Friday after federal agents targeted day laborers outside a Home Depot and later arrested people throughout Los Angeles. ICE agents have since targeted working-class people at a car wash and working in farm fields. The detentions played out in front of children, and in at least one case, involved a pregnant US citizen who had to be hospitalized after ICE agents shoved her.
Details about those arrested in Virginia have yet to emerge, but the Trump administration has admitted that it is not targeting only those with criminal records, but all undocumented immigrants, and is increasingly partnering with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to do so.
There are currently 13 Virginia sheriff’s offices that have signed agreements to help ICE pursue the crackdown on immigrants, according to ABC8.
The Portsmouth Sheriff’s Office canceled its agreement with ICE over concerns about respecting the rights of individuals involved. But the Portsmouth Sheriff also promises to keep notifying ICE as citizenship status questions come up when people are detained on criminal charges.
The ACLU of Virginia condemned Youngkin’s and Miyares’ support for the Trump administration’s “despotic actions in Los Angeles.” “It is shameful that Virginia’s governor would make comments – and Virginia’s attorney general would sign on to a letter – extoling (sic) the president’s unlawful deployment of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles,” ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer said in a statement.
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