We are excited to report that Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring issued an advisory opinion opposing the enforcement of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) holds in Virginia! This opinion means that Virginia does not support detaining individuals otherwise eligible for release from police custody simply because of their immigration status. By enforcing ICE holds, law enforcement agencies were detaining people without cause, according to the Attorney General’s opinion.

Over the past year, with the support of the ACLU of Virginia, Virginia Organizing leaders met with local sheriffs across Virginia to find out their positions on ICE holds and urged them to stop honoring these holds because we believe they are a violation of the U.S. Constitution. Virginia Organizing members made hundreds of calls to the Attorney General’s office and had a meeting in November asking him to issue an opinion that upholds civil rights. Thank you for your calls and your hard work to make this happen!

Will you take another moment to call Attorney General Herring at 804-786-2071 and thank him for issuing this opinion?

You can also get involved by working with Virginia Organizing to meet with your local law enforcement office to find out if they plan to honor the Attorney General’s opinion. If you are interested in attending these meetings, contact your local organizer or Joe Szakos at szakos@virginia-organizing.org or 434-984-4655 ext. 222.

Thank you for all your great organizing for all Virginians!

Sincerely,

Sandra A. Cook
Chairperson

P.S. We want to give a special shout out to the ACLU of Virginia for all their hard work on this important issue!