Forceful debate over Arlington County’s approach to a recent surge in immigration enforcement dominated a County Board meeting this weekend.
Following extensive public comments and shouted chants and boos from dozens of advocates, several Board members raised the possibility of once again revising county policy on when local police can contact federal law enforcement.
“I’ve watched, for years, groups advocate for this issue, only for it to be massaged and manipulated to a point where — are we giving you what you want? And we’re not delivering,” newly elected Board member JD Spain Sr. said on Saturday, receiving applause from the audience.
The Board last updated the county’s policy on “strengthening trust with our immigrant communities” shortly after President Donald Trump’s election in November.
The current policy states, “Arlington County shall not enforce Federal Immigration law.” However, the Arlington County Police Department can initiate contact with immigration authorities in contexts involving identified gang members and certain serious crimes.
In November, the majority of Board members argued that the policy provides broad protections for undocumented residents while remaining within federal and state law.
Activists, however, continue to argue that any voluntary cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement poses unnecessary risks.
“Every day that you delay, you make this county less safe for the very people that you say that you protect,” said Allison Beltran, speaking on behalf of the ICE Out of Arlington campaign.
County Board spokesperson David Barrera told ARLnow that Board members “are interested in revisiting the County’s Trust Policy, in response to ongoing changes to law and immigration enforcement actions.”
“While discussions are ongoing, no further details are available at this time,” he said.
‘In Arlington, we protect one another’
Under the current trust policy, ACPD can contact immigration authorities in the following circumstances only.
- An undocumented immigrant has been identified as a gang member and is wanted, or arrested for, a violent felony or a criminal street gang offense.
- An undocumented immigrant “is arrested for a felony offense or is a confirmed gang member, where circumstances indicate notification to federal immigration authorities is prudent to maintain community safety.”
- An undocumented immigrant is arrested on suspicion of terrorism or human trafficking.
Activists want all of these exceptions removed.
Partly, they say, this is for practical reasons related to the safety of Arlington’s immigrant communities. But they also want to see Arlington County officials take a more aggressive approach to the Trump administration, especially when it comes to messaging around undocumented residents and other targeted groups.
“If they want a show, then let’s give them one,” speaker Ely Orlando said. “Let’s show them that here in Arlington, we protect one another.”
ICE Out of Arlington is also seeking a review of data protections for people accessing county services and an explicit response to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s order to have state police cooperate with ICE.
“We know that [the Arlington County Board] has said that they cannot stop immigration enforcement themselves — but what you can do is stop enabling racist criminalization and feeding the violent pipeline to deportation,” said Beltran.
Most of the 17 speakers on Saturday issued some kind of call to end local cooperation with ICE. Some also pressed the County Board on other issues related to President Donald Trump’s administration, ranging from support for federal workers to LGBTQ+ protections.
Speaker My Nguyen viewed some of these issues as related — arguing that officials’ current approach is out of step with the county’s 2019 equity resolution.
“This is an invitation to be brave, to join us on the right side of history,” Nguyen said.
‘This is to make sure that nobody gets hurt’
Since Trump’s election, Arlington officials have been mulling similar concerns — and acting on them, to an extent.
Shortly after the inauguration in January, for instance, the Arlington County Board awarded a local nonprofit $250,000 for “humanitarian support services.” This money has since made its way to two organizations providing legal support to undocumented Arlington residents.
Several times, however, Board members have clashed with activists on their messaging. This was again the case on Saturday.
Echoing a similar statement he made in November, Chair Takis Karantonis said that he shares residents’ concerns but fears that taking an overly defiant stance could pose other hazards.
“We are always cautious, but we’ll never abandon our values,” Karantonis said at the meeting. “There is one, and only one, reason why anybody will be at any rate cautious on this side of the dais, and this is to make sure that nobody gets hurt.”
Karantonis did not elaborate on his specific concerns. While some speakers accused the county of “cowardice” and trying to avoid a loss of federal funding, he insisted that “this is about people, first and foremost.”
The crowd interrupted Karantonis with boos, shouted retorts and chants of “ICE out of Arlington” as he concluded his response to public comment with a statement from the County Board.
“The Arlington County Police Department, and any other local county employee, do not conduct immigration enforcement,” he read aloud. “That federal activity observed in Arlington over the last weeks is the sole responsibility of the federal government. Arlington County has absolutely no role in it.”
What would a revised policy look like?
While several County Board members alluded to potential revisions to the trust policy, they remained vague on details.
Although Spain demanded that “we fight back against oppression, against a federal government that is coming to try and change our way of life,” he warned that trust policy changes probably won’t be “the end all, be all.”
“I look forward to robust engagement on the trust policy,” he said. “I will not hide behind emails. I will not run away. I will be here for you, but let’s see what we can do to compromise.”
Board member Maureen Coffey cast the lone dissenting vote against the trust policy change in November, arguing that she wasn’t sure whether the changes went far enough.
On Saturday, Coffey expressed severe frustration with the limits of what the County Board can do to resist federal policy — no matter how it adjusts local protocol.
“It might not be enough,” she said from the dais. “It may never be enough because right now, we are facing something that we have never faced before, and I am sorry that we cannot protect everyone.”
She argued that “we need to go beyond just the trust policy” and urged residents to continue presenting ideas.
“We are trying to figure out what is going to be actionable, and feeling quite frustrated ourselves, and so I hear you,” she said. “It is not enough right now. We want it to be enough — but there are limitations on things that local government can achieve.”
How many Arlington residents has ICE arrested?
Immigration enforcement detained 214 people in Northern Virginia between March 1 and 13. Some local news outlets and organizations reported that some of these arrests took place in Arlington, but ICE hasn’t released any localized numbers.
Last month, ICE also announced that it had arrested three people in Arlington during operations on Feb. 11.
ICE has not responded questions about how many Arlington residents have been detained, in total. The county has no further information beyond what ICE and the media have reported, Barrera told ARLnow.
The Arlington County Board’s complete statement on recent immigration enforcement actions is below.
Over the past weeks, there have been a number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in neighborhoods across Northern Virginia and specifically Arlington.
These actions have caused a tremendous amount of fear, stress, and disruption in our community. In some instances, residents are fearful of engaging even with us, a local government that has no involvement in federal immigration law. Arlington County Police have not been involved in any ICE operations, even though they are happening within our community.
I would like to make a few points, on behalf of the entire County Board, and then offer some time for my colleagues to make individual remarks if they would like:
• First and most importantly: Every resident, regardless of documentation status, is welcome here. It does not matter what language you speak, the color of your skin, or where you were born, Arlington welcomes all of its residents. Administrations change but our values do not.
• Every resident has rights. Under the United States Constitution, all individuals, regardless of immigration status, have equal protection under the law.
• Most County Government services are open to all, regardless of legal status. No Arlingtonian should fear getting help from Arlington County services. Arlington County does not require any resident to provide proof of legal presence in order to access nearly all County government services, including but not limited to:
- Access to police, fire and emergency medical services
- All Parks & Recreation facilities and programs
- Aging and disability services
- Child welfare and behavioral health services
- Emergency financial assistance and shelter
- Employment services
- Mental health and substance abuse services
- Health clinics such as immunization, maternity, family planning, dental, STDs
We have a Resources for Immigrants webpage which lists these programs and services and provides links to legal aid services resources.
On Federal Immigration Enforcement Issues:
• Our Trust Policy applies only to Arlington County employees and does not prevent ICE from conducting operations in our jurisdiction. I want to be abundantly clear here. Arlington does not have jurisdiction over federal law, and ICE agents can access public spaces freely and private spaces with warrants.
• To be clear: Arlington County does not conduct immigration enforcement. Federal immigration law is the responsibility of the Federal government. Consistent with Federal and Virginia law and with Arlington’s Trust policy (last revised on Nov. 16, 2024), the Arlington County Police Department and any other local county employee do not conduct immigration enforcement. The federal activity observed in Arlington over the last weeks is the sole responsibility of the federal Government. Arlington County has absolutely no role in it.
• These actions cause fear and disruption that undermine the safety and well-being of Arlington residents and their families, making our neighborhoods, streets, homes, businesses, houses of worship, and schools less secure. Furthermore, they erode the trust between our residents, local law enforcement, and government, ultimately harming the fabric of our community.
• The County Government is guided by Arlington’s community values of fairness, equity, respect and compassion. We stand firm on the side of our immigrant and refugee communities, during these very challenging times and will continue supporting and helping them by ensuring that they know their rights under the law, and that they remain enabled and empowered to exercise these rights without fear, in all interactions with local and/or federal government.
