In Virginia, some local sheriffs are keeping individuals in custody for 48 hours after they would normally be released due to a hold issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This is wrong and must be stopped!

According to the ACLU of Virginia, recent federal court decisions have ruled these ICE holds or immigration holds are an unconstitutional violation of an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights. These decisions also make clear that ICE detainers are voluntary and that sheriffs and jail officials who honor ICE detainers can be held liable for violating the constitutional rights of the unlawfully detained individual.  As a result, many sheriffs throughout the U.S. have stopped honoring the ICE detainer requests.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has been asked to issue an opinion about these holds so that local sheriffs’ offices will stop practicing this unconstitutional detainment. To date, the Attorney General has not issued an opinion and individuals’ rights are still being violated.

Will you take a minute to call Attorney General Herring at 804-786-2071 on Wednesday, October 15 and say, “This is [your name] calling from [your city/county], Virginia. I’d like to leave a message for Attorney General Mark Herring: We know that you have been asked to issue an opinion about local law enforcement officials detaining people in their custody because the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has asked them to hold people who are otherwise lawfully free to be released. I am with Virginia Organizing and we urge you to issue the opinion quickly that directs local police to stop violating the civil rights of individuals so no more people are detained!”

There is no legal requirement that local law enforcement officials honor these requests and continuing to do so will impose unreimbursed costs on the localities or jail authority and possibly expose local law enforcement officials to litigation regarding the constitutionality of their actions.

Thank you for standing up for the civil rights of all Virginians!