This story was reported and written by our media partner the Virginia Mercury.
The ACLU of Virginia has filed a class action lawsuit accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of unlawfully detaining young people in the commonwealth who already have, or are in the process of obtaining, legal protections that Congress created to shield them from deportation.
The case, Sarmiento et al. v. Crawford et al., was submitted Thursday in the Alexandria division of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia. The lawsuit names four plaintiffs — all minors at the time of their arrest who have applied for or been granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) — and seeks relief for others in the same situation.
The ACLU argues ICE has flouted federal law by treating these youth as ordinary noncitizens subject to mandatory detention, locking them in facilities such as the ones in Farmville or Caroline, and denying them bond hearings.
“How could ICE possibly justify picking up orphaned children and then warehousing them in a detention center?” ACLU-VA Legal Director Eden Heilman said in a statement. “A court ruled they cannot safely return to their home countries, that they have nowhere else to go, and that they have every legal right to be in the United States.”
Sophia Gregg, ACLU-VA Senior Immigrants’ Rights Attorney, added: “Our clients are following the rules they’ve been given to obtain citizenship. Unfortunately, ICE is not.”
Congress created SIJS almost four decades ago to protect children who entered the U.S. after abuse, abandonment, or neglect.
The process is lengthy — minors are placed with vetted sponsors, state judges rule they cannot return to their home countries and then they must wait years for visas to adjust their status before eventually applying for citizenship.
Traditionally, minors with SIJS were not subject to prolonged detention. The ACLU’s complaint contends that ICE, under current White House policy, is unlawfully reversing that practice by classifying SIJS youth as “arriving” noncitizens subject to mandatory detention — despite protections under anti-trafficking laws, the Immigration and Nationality Act and constitutional due process rights.
The lawsuit lands amid intensifying scrutiny of ICE operations in Virginia. In August, protesters in Richmond demanded an end to local cooperation with the agency after a wave of “masked, plainclothes” detentions, with data showing that 80% of those held in Virginia facilities were classified as posing “no threat,” meaning no criminal record.
In Chesterfield County, ICE sweeps at the courthouse drew fierce backlash in June, with at least 14 arrests in one day, including people arriving for traffic fines. Critics described the raids as cruel and economically harmful, ensnaring routine court visitors rather than dangerous offenders.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has touted a state-federal task force for arresting more than 2,500 immigrants, claiming they were violent criminals. But after visiting Chesterfield, U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, challenged those assertions, saying many had never been convicted of violent crimes.
Attorney General Jason Miyares also failed to produce proof that all detainees were violent offenders, The Mercury reported in July.
The lawsuit by the ACLU of Virginia mirrors national legal battles over how ICE handles immigrant minors.
In California, attorneys have challenged conditions in facilities where children are held under Border Patrol control, calling them “prison-like” and unfit for youth. Federal courts have also reaffirmed the Flores Settlement, which bars indefinite detention of minors and mandates minimum care standards.
More recently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rescinded its policy of granting deferred action to SIJS recipients stuck in visa backlogs, leaving tens of thousands vulnerable to detention or deportation despite earlier protections. A related class-action lawsuit in New York could affect as many as 150,000 SIJS recipients nationwide.
The ACLU of Virginia, joined by Cruz Law and attorney Patrice Kopistanky, is seeking injunctive relief that would grant bond hearings and secure the release of minors with SIJS. If the court agrees, it could force ICE to alter how it handles youth across the state — and potentially nationwide.
The lawsuit underscores a growing conflict between federal enforcement and state-level protections for children, raising the question of whether the U.S. can continue detaining youth who Congress specifically sought to protect from deportation.