Richmond-area immigrants face ICE arrests at routine check-ins
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ICE agents are increasingly showing up at Richmond-area courthouses and arresting immigrants at routine check-ins once considered safe, local immigration lawyers tell Axios.
The big picture: ICE arrests at the Chesterfield courthouse have put a spotlight on the county in the past month, sparking concerns from some county leaders and conservative Sheriff Karl Leonard, who told WTVR it's straining efforts to build trust with immigrant communities.
- But it's not happening only in Chesterfield. Henrico's Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor told Axios there have been three instances since June where federal agents showed up at Henrico's courthouse.
- While Richmond's Commonwealth's Attorney Colette McEachin told Axios that ICE hasn't been spotted at city courthouses yet, "victims have expressed concerns about coming to court."
- McEachin also says defense attorneys have begun calling her office asking if there are any ICE agents "in or near Richmond's three courthouses."
Zoom in: Then there are the arrests happening at routine check-ins in ICE's Midlothian field office — something Richmond-based immigration attorney Miriam Airington-Fisher says she hadn't seen before in her 16 years of practice.
- These required check-ins are scheduled appointments for people with pending immigration cases where officers confirm their address and that they haven't had any criminal charges.
- Airington-Fisher says even people with no criminal history who have "done everything right" are getting detained.
- She's now advising clients to not attend these check-ins without an attorney.
"Nothing in the constitution prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them," Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin tells Axios.
- She said the courthouse strategy "conserves valuable law enforcement resources because they already know where a target will be."
- Mclaughlin added that immigrants who show up to courthouses will "have gone through security and been screened to not have any weapons."
Threat level: Airington-Fisher says she's seeing people withdraw their immigration cases even though many are still getting approved.
- And a longtime free legal clinic in Richmond that her firm hosts monthly has seen a decline in attendance.
Victims of crime could also be impacted if undocumented witnesses are too scared to testify in court, says Jessica Wright, a Richmond-based immigration attorney.
- Wright says fear of these arrests have also created a ripple effect where clients have questioned whether to pull their kids from school, quit their jobs or call local police when needed.
What they're saying: "I have grown men shaking in their boots, asking me to escort them from their car, straight into the courtroom and stand by their side all the way back to their car," Wright says. "It's so demoralizing."
Go deeper:
- ICE arrests of people without criminal records surge in Virginia and D.C.<br/>
- Virginia is a hot spot for immigration enforcement<br/>
- Richmond police ban feds from tracking immigrants' license plate data
Editor's note: This story has been updated to add comment from the Department of Homeland Security.<br/>