This story was reported and written by our media partner the Virginia Mercury.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Wednesday doubled down on the controversial use of courthouse arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, brushing off criticism that some of the individuals detained were simply in court to pay fines for traffic infractions and had no criminal record.
“Let’s just be clear, the vast majority of the people that have been arrested at courthouses around the country are committing violent crimes,” Youngkin said at a press conference at the Virginia State Police headquarters in Richmond. “If someone breaks the law and is here illegally, they should be arrested.”
Although not involved in the recent courthouse raids, Youngkin hailed efforts by the Virginia Homeland Security Task Force, a state-federal partnership he launched in February to target gang members, narcotics traffickers and undocumented immigrants with criminal records.
“This work is critical, and it’s happening all over the commonwealth of Virginia,” he said. “We just passed over 2,500 arrests through our Virginia Homeland Security Task Force. Two-thousand five-hundred violent criminals who are here illegally — MS-13 members, Tren de Aragua, others, international violent gang members.”
Describing the task force as a “national model of success,” Youngkin credited the rapid rollout of Virginia’s 287(g) agreement with ICE — approved just 20 hours after his Executive Order 47 in February — for much of the operation’s momentum. The program allows state and local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws.
“It started with a plan, and then stepped to a 287(g) memorandum with the federal government and our State Police and our Department of Corrections, and yes, some of our local law enforcement partners,” Youngkin said Wednesday. “This is a concerted effort to collaborate with the federal government to make sure that violent criminals that are here illegally are arrested.”
When asked by The Mercury about recent arrests in Chesterfield County, where ICE agents detained at least 14 people over several days last week — including a man who had come to court to pay traffic fines — Youngkin didn’t waver.
“First of all, if you break the law in America and you’re here illegally, then you should be detained and deported,” he said. “That’s common sense.”
Youngkin emphasized that ICE is not targeting houses of worship or schools and accused the media of distorting the intent of enforcement efforts.
“They’re not going to schools and they’re not going to churches … the media really wants to try to sow deceit,” he said.
Several news reports, however, confirm ICE has conducted arrests on church grounds and near schools since sensitive-location protections were rolled back.
In California, migrants were detained outside churches and in parking lots, sparking backlash from local faith leaders. Meanwhile, school districts across the U.S. are preparing for ICE presence amid concerns over student safety and civil rights.
And in Washington, D.C., immigration officers attempted to detain a school healthcare worker at a local elementary school parking lot — prompting school officials to demand ID and warrants before letting them on campus.
The arrests in Chesterfield drew immediate backlash from community leaders and local officials, who say the enforcement actions are sweeping up residents with no history of violent crime and undermining public trust in the legal system.
One of those detained was Salvador Calderon-Cuellar, whose immigration status remains unclear.
According to court records, Calderon-Cuellar pleaded guilty in April to two traffic violations — driving without a license and failure to yield — and appeared at the Chesterfield courthouse on June 25 to pay a $130 fine when ICE officers took him into custody through the back entrance.
Jessica Schneider, a member of the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors, was addressing a protest outside the courthouse when she learned of his arrest.
“He had no prior arrests,” she said. “Can you tell me that that is a violent criminal person that should be detained? This is a person that is here, working in our communities, and why are we punishing him?”
Protesters condemned the arrests as politically motivated and harmful to due process. Nicole Martin, president of the Chesterfield County NAACP, called the courthouse a “sacred place in a democracy,” warning that ICE raids would dissuade victims and witnesses from engaging with the legal system.
The courthouse operation is part of a larger statewide trend.
In addition to Chesterfield, ICE has carried out arrests in Sterling, Albemarle County, and Richmond in recent months. In a joint ICE-FBI operation in Northern Virginia seven undocumented individuals were detained in what the agency described as a targeted enforcement effort.
Youngkin’s task force is comprised of more than 200 officers from the FBI, ICE, Virginia State Police, and the Department of Corrections.
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons said in April the expanded use of 287(g) agreements has been a key driver of arrests in Virginia. FBI Director Kash Patel called the effort “a tremendous success,” while U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the governor’s alignment with the Trump administration’s “Make America Safe Again” agenda.
But research complicates the narrative that undocumented immigrants pose an outsized threat. A 2024 report funded by the National Institute of Justice found that undocumented immigrants in Texas were arrested at significantly lower rates than U.S.-born citizens — including for violent, property, and drug crimes.
Del. Michael Jones, D-Richmond, said in a statement last week that the Chesterfield arrests “desecrate the very temple of justice their oath of office obligates them to uphold.” He has proposed reforms to restrict ICE access to courthouses, labeling the raids a violation of constitutional dignity.
And Amanda Pohl, clerk of the Chesterfield Circuit Court, said she only became aware of the ICE operation after it was already underway.
“They’ve been in plain clothes, and so I don’t actually have an accounting of how long they were here,” she told The Mercury. While her office doesn’t coordinate with ICE, she said she was reviewing internal policy to ensure “this is a courthouse where people feel safe.”
But for Youngkin, the political calculus is clear. “This is about safety,” he said Wednesday. “And today, Virginia is safer.”
