Banging drums and shouting into megaphones to the blares of a trumpet, protesters broke the stillness of a sleepy morning in a North Arlington neighborhood today (Thursday).
The crowd of about 50 anti-ICE activists arrived at the home of Hilton President and CEO Christopher Nassetta around 7 a.m. They were protesting the hotel chain allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to stay at its properties in Minneapolis and elsewhere in the country.
A Fairlington resident from Minnesota has been providing snow shoveling services in exchange for donations supporting immigrants in the Twin Cities.
Megan Moos Detweiler, a teacher and Fairlington resident who grew up on the East Side of St. Paul, Minn., launched the “Shovel ICE Out” fundraiser to help immigrant families at her alma mater, Mississippi Creative Arts Elementary. Since last weekend’s storm, it has received about 300 donations, including $5,600 through GoFundMe.
A coalition of progressive prosecutors including Arlington’s commonwealth’s attorney is promising to share strategies and pursue accountability for any illegal actions by federal agents.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti — alongside Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano and prosecutors from Minneapolis, Philadelphia and other jurisdictions — announced the Fight Against Federal Overreach (FAFO) project yesterday (Wednesday). The initiative aims to “rein in unlawful conduct” amid a growing presence of federal immigration and law enforcement in communities across the country.
Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-3) is proposing several pieces of legislation to place restrictions on federal immigration enforcement in Virginia, including at sensitive locations like schools and polling places.
One bill introduced by Lopez would prohibit federal immigration enforcement within 40 feet of polling places, as well as near local electoral board locations to certify or recount election results. Activities like loitering and handing political materials are already restricted within 40 feet of polling places, but immigration enforcement is not explicitly mentioned under current Virginia law.
If Arlington residents see immigration enforcement operating in the county, some local elected officials are advising them to call 911.
County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti and Board member Takis Karantonis encouraged calling the emergency number. De Ferranti noted at a meeting on Saturday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents “have no legal requirement to tell us when they come into our community.”
Hundreds of demonstrators rallied with Arlington officials in Courthouse yesterday (Sunday) in protest of immigration enforcement killing a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.
“I have dedicated 24 years of my life protecting Arlington because I believe law enforcement is supposed to protect the community by building trusting relationships,” Arlington Sheriff Jose Quiroz told the crowd gathered in Courthouse Plaza. “ICE is doing the opposite. The way they are operating does not keep us safe.”
Arlington’s Roman Catholic bishop is emphasizing both border security and humanitarian issues after helping to write a rare rebuke of immigration enforcement nationwide.
In an interview on the Diocese of Arlington’s podcast this week, Bishop Michael Burbidge defended the special statement on immigration that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved in a 216-5-3 vote last week — but particularly stressed the need to safeguard national interests while supporting immigrant communities.
Leaders of the Shirlington Employment and Education Center used its 25th-birthday celebration to further commit to supporting the people that the organization helps.
SEEC, as it is known, provides “trust, hard work and hope” for the county’s immigrant population, board chair Chris Concepcion said at an Oct. 10 dinner held at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church.
A tight-knit construction crew’s months of labor and progress in Ballston are the subject of an online photo album by a neighborhood photographer.
Since the spring, David Moss has captured dozens of scenes conveying the teamwork and physical feats of construction workers at the UrbA phase II redevelopment site next to Harris Teeter, where a 197-unit apartment building is getting built at 600 N. Glebe Road.
A new collaboration between a South Arlington church and a local artist is seeking to memorialize places where immigration enforcement has arrested people in Arlington.
Led by the Rev. Ashley Goff, members of Arlington Presbyterian Church, artist Sushmita Mazumdar and other “trusted neighbors” set out yesterday (Tuesday) to locations where residents have documented recent detainments by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Arlington’s congressman is quarreling with the Department of Homeland Security following a visit to one of Virginia’s immigration detention centers.
The federal department publicly criticized U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D) in a press release after he visited Farmville Detention Center on Friday. It accused him of prioritizing detainees with criminal convictions over crime victims.
The Department of Justice has a new list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” that it accuses of impeding federal immigration enforcement — and Arlington isn’t on it.
The Justice Department previously included Arlington on a much longer list of “sanctuary jurisdictions,” which included 19 Virginia counties and 13 cities in the commonwealth and hundreds of others nationwide.
