A fraudulent email impersonating Arlington County Treasurer Carla de la Pava is targeting local businesses and nonprofits, according to the Treasurer’s Office.
The emails use de la Pava’s name but come from an unrelated Gmail address. They carry the subject line “Arlington County Virginia/Vendor Payment” and ask recipients to help pay a vendor invoice, according to a press release from the office.
Firefighters battled a large brush fire today on the 1800 block of Army Navy Drive, in the Arlington Ridge neighborhood near Pentagon City.
Smoke from the fire, which broke out around 2 p.m. Wednesday, could be seen on traffic cameras along I-395. Initial reports suggest that a sizable, quickly spreading brush fire burned a shed, several power poles and a number of trees, while threatening some homes.
In the months of November and December 2025, the Trump Administration took four related actions: (1) they froze all adjudication of applications for nationals subject to a related travel ban, (2) they announced that being from one of those countries would be a ‘significant negative factor’ in benefits adjudication, (3) they froze adjudication of all affirmative asylum claims, and (4) they announced a ‘re-review’ of all immigration benefits granted to people from a list of thirty-nine countries since the beginning of the Biden Administration. We told you, as these policies were introduced, that they were going to be controversial – we told you that litigation would put an end to them, because “[s]ome federal judge, somewhere, will say ‘enough.'”
Last week, a federal judge, John J. McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, said “Enough!” in vigorous language, striking down all four policies in a strongly worded decision. The purpose of this advertorial is to explain: (1) why the federal district court took this action, (2) what real-world effects we expect this to have, and (3) what the Trump Administration’s prospects on appeal are.
First, what did Judge McConnell’s decision say?
In short, Judge McConnell flatly rejected the government’s claim that its decisions were non-discriminatory and rooted in a reasonable desire to ensure security and accurate adjudication. It’s worth lingering over the language that Judge McConnell employs in his introduction.
“But the rule of law has to apply to everyone equally and, as evident here, USCIS has neither “followed the law” nor “done things the right way.” Indeed, the agency has violated the very immigration laws that Congress has charged it with administering, as well as the administrative laws that govern the agency’s actions. In enacting its latest immigration policies, USCIS: claims statutory and regulatory authority that it does not possess; makes decisions without the reasoned explanations that it must provide; acts without regard for the reliance interests of applicants that it must consider; and justifies its actions with pretextual concerns of “national security” that mask anti-immigrant sentiments that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision-making. In legal terms, that means USCIS’s actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.”
What Judge McConnell means, more or less, is that the Trump Administration can’t use the administrative apparatus of USCIS to accomplish its policy goals without either passing a statute or promulgating a regulation. As a reminder, the Trump Administration didn’t even try to promulgate a regulation concerning any of the above memoranda, it simply announced them, one ukase after another.
Now, what will the Trump Administration do?
Our prediction is cynical: The Trump Administration will do nothing. They’ll slow-walk any compliance with Judge McConnell’s order while they file an appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking an emergency stay of Judge McConnell’s order. If they lose at the First Circuit, they’ll seek another form of emergency relief, via the Supreme Court’s so-called “shadow docket.” Only if the Administration loses twice on appeal will they even contemplate compliance with this order.
What should applicants for benefits affected by these newly unfrozen orders do? The right answer depends on the individual case. The great majority of applicants, we suspect, will choose to wait and see what the outcome of the government’s appeal will be. We’ll report on that, too, when the next round of litigation is concluded.
A family-owned Lebanese restaurant with brick oven-prepared cuisine is preparing to reopen in a new space on Langston Blvd.
The Block Oven has moved about half a mile from 3110 Langston Blvd — now home to Brazilian-Lebanese fusion spot Tio Pelé — to 2515 Langston Blvd, above the Cloud Lounge hookah bar. It replaces a vacancy left by Burger7, which first opened in 2012.
A portion of N. Glebe Road is closed in both directions after a construction crew struck a gas line.
The busy arterial road is closed between Old Dominion Drive and Rock Spring Road after a 3-inch gas line was reportedly struck by a construction crew using an excavator near Marymount University and Washington Golf and Country Club.
St. Agnes Catholic Church in Arlington is hosting its monthly run & walk social on June 18th (Thursday) at 6:30pm. The 3 or 4 mile run (or walk) will start in the back parking lot (off N. Stafford St.) and end at St. Agnes. Participants can enjoy complimentary pizza afterwards. Drinks are BYOB. Extra points if you wear Catholic school swag. Thank you Father Oetjen, who started off our May run from Court House to/from the Marine Corps War Memorial with a prayer (and ran a competitive pace). Also, thank you to the Notre Dame and Georgetown alumni who wore their schools’ colors!
Please RSVP at the link, so we know how much pizza to get. Thank you!
A veteran chef in the D.C. area appears to be breathing new life into the Green Pig Bistro’s former Clarendon address.
A work permit application for a new “Cafe Dalmatia” by chef Ivan Zivkovic was filed last week at 1025 N. Fillmore Street. It’s unclear what the new restaurant plans to offer, but the name Dalmatia, a coastal region of Croatia, suggests Mediterranean cuisine.
A bill from Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-3) seeking to limit law enforcement collaboration with federal immigration enforcement has received minor adjustments from Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Lopez’s HB 1441, and companion bill SB 783, ban state and local law enforcement agreements with federal immigration enforcement and limit when state and local law enforcement can cooperate.
The Culpepper Garden housing complex for low-income seniors is on track to fully phase out assisted-living services by June 30.
“We are looking forward to having all our residents settled [in other housing arrangements] by that day, which is what we promised,” Culpepper Garden CEO Marta Hill Gray told ARLnow.
One of Arlington’s oldest churches is celebrating a full reopening three and a half years after a devastating fire forced the closure of nearly half of its usable space.
Mount Olivet United Methodist Church will mark the completion of restoration work with a May 2 event titled “In Full Bloom: A Community Celebration of Renewal.” The community is invited from 2-5 p.m.
DCA Workers Demand Action — TSA workers at Reagan National are urging passengers to pressure Congress to end the DHS shutdown, now in its 59th day. Nationally, more than 500 TSA employees have quit since the shutdown began, and remaining workers say their next paycheck is uncertain despite a March executive order covering past pay periods. [DC News Now]
Rosslyn Offices Eyed for Sale — Beacon Capital Partners is emptying a pair of Rosslyn offices at 1501 and 1515 Wilson Blvd to prepare them for sale. The County Board on Saturday is set to vote on terminating its lease at 1501 Wilson, where Arlington Transportation Partners occupies the 11th floor, because the landlord is planning to redevelop the property. [WBJ]
TRACON Safety Alarm — Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) led a group of DMV lawmakers in pressing the FAA for answers on equipment failures at the Potomac TRACON facility in March that caused evacuations, hospitalizations and ground stops at DCA, Dulles and BWI. Rep. Don Beyer (D) was among those signing the letter. [Press Release]
ACPD Detective Retires — The Arlington County Police Department is celebrating the career of Detective S. Lafley, who retired last week after serving the Arlington community with distinction for more than 27 years. [ACPD/X]
Earth Month by the Numbers — Arlington is highlighting its environmental progress this April, including 1.3 million electric miles logged by county vehicles, 1,020 trees planted, more than 300 residential solar installations and a 49.5% recycling rate. [Arlington County]
Inova Hospital Tops Out — The final structural beam was placed atop Inova Alexandria Hospital at Landmark on Monday, a milestone for the 1.1 million-square-foot project at the former Landmark Mall site. The four-building campus is targeting completion in 2028. [ALXnow]
Ruthie’s Heads to Fairfax — Ruthie’s All-Day, the Arlington Heights Southern comfort restaurant, opens its second location at Fairfax Corner today with dinner service starting at 5 p.m. Lunch hours are expected to expand next week. [FFXnow]
Spanberger Amends Key Bills — Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) amended bills on paid family leave, recreational cannabis and housing ahead of a Monday midnight deadline. She is proposing to delay cannabis sales to July 2027 and signed a bill requiring all localities to allow accessory dwelling units. [WBJ]
Suicide Decriminalized — Gov. Spanberger signed a bill Monday night abolishing the centuries-old common law crime of suicide in Virginia. The bill takes effect in July 2027 and requires the Bureau of Insurance to review the implications for insurance in the commonwealth. [WTOP]
‘Toothless’ ICE Amendments — Fairfax state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-37) is criticizing Gov. Spanberger’s amendments to bills restricting ICE enforcement near courthouses, hospitals and schools, calling the changes “toothless, a right without a remedy.” [FFXnow]
Potomac ‘Most Endangered’ — The Potomac River has been named the most endangered river in the country for 2026 by American Rivers, citing this year’s massive sewage spill and the rapid expansion of data centers across the region. [WJLA]
D.C. Golf Courses in Limbo — The future of D.C.’s historic public golf courses remains uncertain after the Interior Department terminated a nonprofit’s lease to manage them. Arlington resident Alex Dickson is among those suing the Trump administration over the changes and dirt being dumped from White House renovations on East Potomac Park’s course. [WAMU]
Record Heat on Tap — Today and Thursday could bring record highs as temperatures surge to the low to mid-90s, roughly 25 degrees above the mid-April average. The current April 15 record in D.C. is 89 degrees. [Washington Post]
It’s Wednesday — Expect a sunny and unusually hot day with a high near 93 degrees and light southwest winds at 2–8 mph. Overnight lows drop only to about 71 under partly cloudy skies. [NWS]
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Flickr pool photo by Brian Gannon
