immigration | ARLnow.com

ICE agents reportedly injure man in Arlington, prompting outcry from officials

Published August 19, 2026 at 9:15AM | Updated August 19, 2026 at 11:26AM

José Mejía Hernandez speaks with Telemundo (via Noticias Telemundo/Facebook)

A man’s account of being badly injured in an encounter with immigration agents in Arlington has prompted condemnation from local elected officials and Arlington’s congressman.

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti and Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti have all released statements on the case of José Mejía Hernandez. The Mexican immigrant has told multiple media outlets that immigration enforcement approached him on his way to a bus stop last week and shocked him with a stun gun when he tried to run.

News

Local duo rings in new Arlington exhibit on immigrant experiences in Virginia

By Scott McCaffrey

Published July 17, 2026 at 2:45PM | Updated July 17, 2026 at 4:06PM

Judith and Ingrid Morroy performing at Arlington Historical Society event (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

The opening of a new exhibition on Virginia’s immigrant experience included a concert by a duo that has lived it.

Judith and Ingrid Morroy performed Sunday afternoon (July 12) at the Arlington Historical Museum, marking the local opening of the “We the People: The World in Our Commonwealth” traveling exhibit of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.

News

From paid leave to gun legislation, here’s what changes in Virginia on July 1

By Emily Leayman

Published June 29, 2026 at 4:45PM

Del. Adele McClure, D-2, at 2026 Juneteenth celebration (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

More than 1,100 bills have come out of the latest General Assembly session, and many take effect on July 1.

As Democrats gained a trifecta with the election of Gov. Abigail Spanberger and control of the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates, legislators passed bills focused on immigration enforcement, gun control, housing and tenant protections, reproductive rights and more. Democrats also passed Virginia’s first-ever paid sick leave, paid family and medical leave, and child care assistance programs for workers.

News

DOJ challenges Virginia laws restricting officer face coverings, ICE agreements

By Emily Leayman

Published June 17, 2026 at 9:15AM

Virginia State Capitol in Richmond (staff photo)

The Trump administration’s Justice Department is challenging several state laws passed by Virginia Democrats targeting the work of federal immigration enforcement officers.

The complaint, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia’s Richmond Division, challenges state laws that seek to ban federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks and restrict 287(g) agreements between federal immigration enforcement and state and local law enforcement agencies.

News

JUST IN: House committee targets Arlington police, sheriff’s office and prosecutors over ‘sanctuary policies’

By Dan Egitto

Published May 4, 2026 at 10:00AM | Updated May 5, 2026 at 1:10PM

Flags flying in the wind at Arlington County's justice center in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The House Judiciary Committee is targeting all three of Arlington’s main criminal justice agencies over local policies that restrict contact with immigration enforcement.

In separate letters to the Arlington County Police Department, Arlington County Sheriff’s Office and Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, the committee took issue with the limits that these agencies have placed on their cooperation with immigration officers, arguing that such policies endanger the public.

Around Town

Nam-Viet Restaurant, the last outpost of Clarendon’s ‘Little Saigon,’ celebrates 40 years

By Katie Taranto

Published April 22, 2026 at 1:45PM

Historic photo of Nam-Viet's storefront (courtesy of Richard Nguyen)

A family-owned Vietnamese restaurant and the last remaining business from Clarendon’s Little Saigon community is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

Tucked in a storefront near the corner of Wilson Blvd and N. Hudson Street, Nam-Viet Restaurant — started in July 1986 by the late Nguyen Van Thoi and his widow, Ngoc Anh Tran — carries on the legacy of what was once a hub of Vietnamese immigrant-owned businesses that opened in the neighborhood following the fall of Saigon in 1975.

News

Probation officer warned attempted rape suspect was ‘danger to self and others’ last year

By Jared Serre

Published April 16, 2026 at 11:45AM | Updated April 20, 2026 at 5:29PM

Luzvin Orvando Garcia Moran (mugshot via ACPD)

An Arlington probation officer warned a judge last year that a local man — now charged with attempted rape — was on the verge of a slippery slope of increasing violent crime.

Luzvin Orvando Garcia Moran, whose arrest has also caught the attention of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) because of his immigration status, remains in jail following a violent attack in Clarendon.

News

Spanberger proposes final edits to immigration enforcement bill from Del. Lopez

By Emily Leayman

Published April 15, 2026 at 10:00AM

Del. Alfonso Lopez 2025 campaign kickoff (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

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.

News

Big ‘No Kings’ protests planned along Glebe Road and I-66 overpasses this weekend

By Dan Egitto

Published March 23, 2026 at 3:45PM

'No Kings' protesters at the Clarendon Metro station in June 2025 (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

Another wave of “No Kings” protests will be taking place along several high-visibility areas in Arlington on Saturday.

They’re part of over 3,000 similar events happening around the country on the same day, protesting the Trump administration and its tactics. Culminating in a large afternoon protest along an eight-mile stretch of Glebe Road, the actions will follow similar demonstrations last June and October.

News

Bounty hunter accused of presenting fake ICE warrant loses license, avoids jail time

By Jared Serre

Published March 5, 2026 at 2:45PM

Arlington County courthouse on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 (staff photo by James Jarvis)

A bounty hunter has pleaded guilty to illegal brandishing in an incident where he is accused of unlawfully detaining a Green Valley resident, falsely claiming to have a warrant for his immigration arrest.

Matthew Mallory has also entered a no contest plea to a charge of trespassing in connection to the June incident, where prosecutors say he lied about having a document from the Department of Homeland Security in order to enter a home and detain a victim at gunpoint.

News

Arlington’s ‘Dream Project’ awaits court outcome on undocumented students’ in-state tuition

By Emily Leayman

Published March 4, 2026 at 9:15AM

The Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

An Arlington-based nonprofit that intervened in Virginia’s federal court case over in-state tuition for undocumented students is now awaiting a judge’s decision.

The Dream Project is watching the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia after a joint agreement challenging Virginia’s law was invalidated last Friday, Zuraya Tapia-Hadley, the nonprofit’s CEO and an Arlington School Board member, told ARLnow.

News

If ICE surge comes to Arlington, county leaders hope to be ‘prepared’

By Scott McCaffrey

Published February 23, 2026 at 3:45PM

County Board member J.D. Spain Sr. speaks at an anti-ICE demonstration in Courthouse (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

Arlington officials say they’re taking action behind the scenes to be ready for any possible surge in immigration enforcement locally.

“We have to be prepared,” Arlington County Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., said at the Board’s Feb. 21 meeting. “We don’t want what happened in other parts of our nation to happen here, but if it does happen, we need to be prepared.”