VACPUSA

By worker-correspondent Jonathan Vassar

At VACPUSA, we are working to support all ICE OUT and Abolish ICE work across the state. Towards this goal, we reviewed the places where ICE is active and the legislation that supports, or could limit, ICE action here in Virginia.

VA’s 287(g)s

An analysis of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement data shows that since 2024, ICE arrests in Virginia have risen substantially, from 1,595 in 2024 to 9,000 in 2025. This data “also shows that 13 minors under the age of 6 years old were detained by ICE in Virginia during that same period.”

According to the Legal Aid Justice Center, this escalation can be attributed to an increase of 287(G) and IGSA agreements, as well as voluntary compliance with ICE detainer requests. 

Under 287(g) agreements, local law enforcement officers become an extension of ICE, with delegated powers to enforce federal immigration law, oftentimes with less than 40 hours of training. An LAJC investigation found that when state and local agencies comply with ICE; they are “committing resources and assuming risk, setting aside public safety concerns and the constraints of the laws of Virginia.” 

As of December, 2025, Virginia has 27 current 287(g) agreements. These include 23 local sheriffs, two jails (Rappahannock / Warren Shenandoah Regional Jail, Southwest Virginia Regional Jail) and two local police departments (Gordonsville Department of Public Safety and Shenandoah Police Department).

The LAJC reports, as of the end of last year, “at least 223 state and local personnel have been delegated to act as immigration enforcement, at least 157 of which have been certified.” This includes two “security resource officers” in public schools (Buckingham and Washington Counties) and one “behavioral health advocate.”

VA IGSA’s

IGSA agreements transform local jails into detention entry points, extending ICE’s detention capacity. In this agreement, jail beds are rented to ICE, on a per diem basis, to house immigration detainees.

ICE has IGSA agreements at Riverside Regional Jail Authority in Prince George County and at Southwest Regional Jail in Abingdon. In exciting news, Riverside Regional Jail Authority is taking steps to discontinue its collaboration.

ICE Detainers
In addition to formal agreements between ICE and governments at the state and local levels, there are informal methods of collaboration. Nationwide, 70% of all ICE arrests result from ICE detainers and transfers from other law enforcement agencies. 

An ICE detainer is a request for a jail to transfer a detainee directly to immigration authorities. These requests include two primary parts:

• A ‘courtesy call’ to notify ICE of the release date and time of a person of interest. 
• A ‘Hold’ to keep the person in custody for up to an additional 48 hours, allowing ICE time to pick them up. 

An important condition to these requests is the acceptance of, and compliance with, ICE warrants (administrative warrants issued by ICE with no judicial authority). In other words, through ICE detainers, jails transfer detainees to ICE custody voluntarily, without being legally required to by a judicial warrant.  

It should be noted that courts across the U.S. have found ICE holds to be unconstitutional.  

Detention Centers
Virginia’s two official ICE detention centers are both located in Central Virginia: the Caroline Detention Center in Caroline County and the Farmville Detention Center in Prince Edward County. 

According to TRAC Immigration, over 70% of detainees at these centers have never been convicted of a crime. Of the remainder, only 1% have been convicted of a serious, though not necessarily violent, crime.

WRIC reports, “the most common conviction listed amongst Central Virginia’s ICE detainees was driving under the influence of alcohol, with 816 bookings…In over 200 cases, the most serious offense a detainee had ever been found guilty of was a traffic violation.”

There are many places we can fight to regain control of our streets and remove ICE access. To read more about these efforts, see our companion post here.