Virginia County Votes Not to Report Illegal Alien Terrorists to ICE—in Name of ‘Public Safety’
17th May 2025
The Arlington County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to end its police department’s ability to report illegal aliens arrested for felonies and terrorist activity to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Board members couched their decision as a way to protect immigrant communities from the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, which, funny enough, target the types of criminals that Arlington is now protecting.
Prior to this egregious decision to disregard the public’s safety, the Arlington County Police Department’s interaction with ICE was already restricted in the county’s “Trust Policy,” also known as “Arlington’s Commitment to Strengthening Trust with Our Immigrant Communities,” enacted in 2022 and updated last year.
Section 7 of the “Trust Policy” very narrowly carved out a few exceptions for when police were allowed to report arrests of illegal aliens to ICE. These were for instances when police made arrests for felonies, gang activity, terrorism, and human trafficking.
The draft document had identified the presence of these illegal aliens as a “threat to the community.”
And the county was right. Now, Section 7 is crossed out in unambiguous red ink, and terrorists and other dangerous criminals will be effectively shielded from deportation