ICE Arrests in Virginia Explode Under Trump’s Second Term, Targeting Thousands Without Criminal Records

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has dramatically ramped up arrests in Virginia since President Donald Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025, detaining nearly 11,000 people by early March 2026. This figure dwarfs the 1,595 arrests made statewide in all of 2024, according to data obtained by VPM News from the Deportation Data Project’s FOIA release.

The surge reflects a sharp escalation in aggressive immigration enforcement under Trump’s continued administration, with a growing share of detainees held despite having no prior criminal convictions. ICE’s own data reveals that facilities like Caroline Detention Center and Farmville Detention Center house hundreds of people daily who pose no “ICE threat,” meaning they have no criminal record. Nationwide, about 70% of those in ICE custody face only civil immigration violations or minor infractions, a pattern mirrored in Virginia.

Legal advocates attribute the spike in arrests to expanded cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement through 287(g) agreements. These contracts deputize local officers to enforce federal immigration law and convert local jails into de facto immigration detention entry points. For example, the Riverside Regional Jail Authority (RRJA) in Prince George County booked 7,344 people under immigration-related charges from January 2025 to April 2026, a practice absent before Trump’s second term.

The human toll is stark. Families in Richmond report disrupted lives, with parents and teachers describing children too scared to attend school. Residents fear routine activities like grocery shopping or calling 911 could lead to detention. Over 3,000 arrests in Virginia trace back to the Richmond ICE field office alone.

This crackdown is justified by the administration as a fight against violent crime allegedly linked to immigrants. Yet federal data contradicts this narrative, showing most detainees have no criminal history. Instead, they are caught in a civil detention system where people can be held indefinitely without charges.

Virginia is poised for change. New state laws effective July 1 will sharply restrict 287(g) agreements and limit local cooperation with ICE. These reforms could slow the flow of people into the state’s detention centers and disrupt the pipeline of civil rights abuses enabled by federal-local partnerships.

But until then, ICE’s unchecked expansion in Virginia lays bare the Trump administration’s relentless assault on immigrant communities — a campaign of fear, detention, and disruption justified by lies and enforced without accountability. We will keep tracking these abuses and demanding transparency and justice for those caught in the system.