16 detained by ICE at Chesterfield Courthouse, attorneys say fear is growing

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Sixteen people have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Chesterfield County Courthouse since June, raising alarm among local immigration attorneys and the communities they serve.

"It's unprecedented," said immigration attorney Naureen Hyder, who first spoke with 8News in January about her clients’ anxiety. "Somebody having a driving without a license charge or a speeding charge, an infraction, and then going to their court and getting detained on that basis is nothing that we’ve heard of in the past."

Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the arrests are part of a statewide collaboration between law enforcement agencies and ICE.

“We’re getting really tough, bad guys off the street,” Youngkin said. "We have a statewide collaboration in partnership between state police and ICE and the FBI and DEA, working to make sure that violent criminals who are here illegally have been arrested. So the fact that there have been some arrests at the Chesterfield County Courthouse makes sense, because they clearly have been arrested."

Court records show that 11 of the 16 people detained at the courthouse were only in court for traffic-related offenses. It was 10 until the most recent detainee was arrested last week.

Hyder and fellow immigration attorney Soulmaz Taghavi said their clients are now living in fear.

"This takes away from what our justice system is meant for," Taghavi said. "It erodes our communities because people [who] go to court -- we should want them to go to court. It shouldn’t matter what your immigration status is."

The attorneys reminded the public that ICE must have a warrant signed by a judge and bearing an individual’s name before entering a home. Still, they said times are unprecedented.

"A lot of us have seen a lot of coverage, videos of people asserting their rights and it not really mattering," Hyder said.

"Even if you know your rights, these ICE officers don’t care and they don’t respect your rights," Taghavi said.

8News has reached out to ICE to learn where the detainees are now, but the agency has not responded.