An immigration operation at a cluster of Ashton Heights apartments last week left many residents on edge and concerned for themselves and their neighbors.
On Thursday morning, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attempted to enter several apartment buildings as part of an investigation. An ARLnow reporter witnessed agents loudly banging on doors in one building before leaving the building to interview several passersby.
It’s unclear whether the operation resulted in any arrests.
Part of a trend of ICE action that advocates have seen in immigrant-dense communities, the operation sent shockwaves through the neighborhood and left some witnesses fearful that they or their loved ones might be detained.
“They woke me up when they kept ringing the intercom,” one resident, who identified herself by her first initial, D., told ARLnow in Spanish via a translation app. “When I heard it, I froze. I did nothing. I didn’t open the door; I didn’t answer anything. I locked myself in a room with the baby and our documents, and I was paralyzed with fear.”
Another witness said that the operation made him think of his undocumented neighbors and the fears he has seen in Latin American communities since President Donald Trump’s election.
Overall, Scott Sklar, president of the Ashton Heights Civic Association, described heightened worry and confusion throughout the neighborhood as a result of ICE’s presence recently.
“We tend to be a very tolerant area, so it’s not like there’s a lot of backlash to have immigrants here,” Sklar told ARLnow. “It’s not a shocker — it’s just a sad turn of events that it can’t be done respectfully and open, in the light of day.”
‘I was paralyzed’
ARLnow observed ICE agents entering an apartment building on N. Piedmont Street just after 8:30 a.m. on Thursday. At least two agents climbed a flight of stairs and proceeded to pound on the doors of four units for several minutes.
D. was still sleeping when they arrived.
“They told me, ‘Ma’am, we want to ask you some questions and for you to identify some people,'” said the woman, who came to Arlington from Venezuela about two years ago. “I was paralyzed.”
Immigration enforcement left the building a few minutes later and began talking to custodial staff on the sidewalk outside. A maintenance worker who identified himself by his first name, José, said that the agents brought a photograph and were asking his co-workers if they knew the man in the picture.
By 8:45 a.m., ICE had left N. Piedmont Street. The timeline coincides with a flurry of confused and concerned messages on an Ashton Heights emailing list and Nextdoor, Sklar said.
Residents reported seeing a large police presence nearby on N. Nelson Street.
“People were starting to email, what’s all these police cars doing?” he said. “Some neighbors had stopped by and saw it … It was an unusual cluster of activity, let’s put it that way.”
No one ARLnow spoke to said they saw anyone arrested. ICE did not respond to a request for more information.
‘This time is very, very complicated’
As D. recounted the operation to ARLnow, she gestured to her 9-month-old son as he crawled about on the floor of her apartment, making cooing noises.
“[I was] scared, quite scared,” she said. “He was scared.”
President Donald Trump’s administration has framed its unfolding crackdown on undocumented immigrants as primarily targeting convicted criminals, particularly gang members.
As of March 13, 43% of all immigration arrests since January involved people convicted of crimes: 14,111 out of 32,809, according to ICE. The agency identified 1,155 of those detained as “criminal gang members.”
José said these operations contribute to feelings of fear at both the personal level and in local communities of Latin American immigrants.
“This time is very, very complicated,” he said. “I have friends [with] no papers, tell me, ‘hey can you do me a favor? Can you buy food or ride my son to school?’ I say yes.”
José’s brother, who has lived in the U.S. for 13 years and currently resides in Alexandria, is still going through the “process for papers.”
José said he feels confused by the administration’s animosity toward undocumented people, including his loved ones, and by the hostility that he says he has sometimes experienced when speaking Spanish in public.
Nevertheless, he said, “It’s okay. It is my country. This is my country. It’s fine — I’m working for my family.”
Similar events in Arlington
Numerous other immigration raids have been reported elsewhere in Arlington and in Northern Virginia in recent weeks.
Immigration enforcement arrested 214 people in a string of Northern Virginia operations between March 1 and 13. Romah Javed, a director at the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC), said she has seen an uptick in operations targeting apartment complexes home to large numbers of immigrants.
She said agents often “use the element of surprise,” operating in the early morning before people go to work. In late January, NBC 4 reported on a similar instance of agents in Fairfax County “aggressively” knocking on apartment doors around 6:30 a.m.
“Banging on the door is a scare tactic,” Javed told ARLnow. “ICE is trying to get consent to come into the home and arrest an immigrant.”
Residents are not required to respond to ICE agents unless they produce a judicial warrant signed by a judge, she added.
The LAJC is one of several nonprofits that has recently received funds from Arlington County to support local immigrant communities. In addition to offering legal services, the organization has begun holding a series of “know your rights” sessions to train people on how to interact with ICE.
The nonprofit hosted one event in collaboration with the Arlington County Democratic Committee on March 18. About two dozen people attended, including state Sen. Barbara Favola, Del. Alfonso Lopez and County Board Chair Takis Karantonis.
Back in Ashton Heights, D. said she and her husband remain “on alert and afraid that [ICE] may return.”
“We hope this can change, because it is inhumane,” she said. “We are not criminals to receive such mistreatment.”
ARLnow reporter Dan Egitto contributed to this story.
