Immigration lawyers with the ACLU of Virginia notched rare wins in the courts last month, seeing the release of several clients after challenging their detainment orders in federal court.
That, combined with the election of a big Democratic majority in Richmond, is giving renewed hope to critics of President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration orders.
"Hola!" says one of two brothers as they are released from an ICE facility in Farmville last month.
Both then tearfully embrace their found family in footage shared by the ACLU of Virginia last month.
Their release comes after the ACLU of Virginia convinced a federal judge the agency’s detainment of the boys violated federal immigration law.
The boys, we’re not using their name over concerns for retaliation from the agency, came to the US as unaccompanied minors and were given special juvenile status because of abuse they faced in their home country. Sophia Gregg is the senior immigration rights attorney for the ACLU of Virginia. She said ICE has been trying to detain those with special juvenile status despite it being:
“Simply contrary to law, its contrary to ICE’s own regulations and policies, and really history of practice,” Gregg told Radio IQ.
But their release, and big Democratic wins in November, are giving hope to Gregg and others who have found themselves contesting ICE and President Donald Trump’s effort to remove as many quote “illegal criminal aliens” as possible.
New reporting from the Deportation Data Project suggests Virginia is one of the top states for ICE detainments, with over 4,200 people arrested in the Commonwealth in the last year. Nearly 60 percent had no history of criminal charges.
Democratic Delegate and Latino caucus chair Alfonso Lopez said there’s not much state officials can do to stop ICE, but: “We all see the ugliness around us and there are several folks working very hard to see what can be done in the Commonwealth.”
Details on those efforts - both legislative and regulatory - could come as early as January ahead of the 2026 legislative session.
Attempts to reach Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger for an updated comment on her immigration plans were not returned.
But she told the Washington Post shortly after her landslide win that one of her first actions as governor would be to end the 287G agreement between Virginia State Police and ICE. Youngkin singed an executive order creating the agreement in January and it's been a major source of contention for immigration advocates.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
