The Arlington County Board voted to amend its Trust Policy, eliminating a section that had allowed Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) officers to initiate contact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under certain circumstances.
Previously, under the policy adopted in July 2022, police could contact ICE if someone was an “undocumented immigrant” who "has been identified as a gang member and is wanted or arrested for a violent felony or a criminal street gang offense," or if they were "arrested for a terrorism or human trafficking offense.” That language has now been removed, according to a report by WJLA.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares condemned the move in a statement to Fox News, saying, "Banning local police from alerting ICE, from terrorists, from MS-13 gang members, from human traffickers, that is not compassion. That's actually negligence.”
"I want to be clear, this present policy does absolutely nothing to make Arlington safe. It makes it less safe,” Miyares added. “The only people that benefit from this are illegal immigrants that have committed some of the most heinous acts, whether it's human trafficking or even acts of terrorism. It does not protect the community, does not protect Arlington, does not protect Virginians.”
Arlington County Board Chair Takis Karantonis defended the decision, stating, “To be clear, breaking the law is still breaking the law. This decision does not change that, and if a crime is committed, law enforcement will respond.” He added that the decision was in response to what he claimed was “the federal administration’s ongoing erosion of the constitutional right to due process.”
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin also blasted the decision in a post on X, writing, “The Arlington County Board’s latest action to prohibit Arlington Police from any cooperation with ICE, even regarding violent MS-13 gang members who are illegally here, is dereliction of duty and a betrayal of the oath they swore to protect their constituents.”
"At what point did protecting violent illegal immigrants become more important than protecting your constituents?" Youngkin added. "The Virginia Homeland Security Task Force has been working in Arlington County, catching and arresting violent criminals, including MS-13 gang members. That will continue — unabated — in Arlington and around the Commonwealth."
