Vast majority of Central Virginia ICE detainees are not violent criminals: ICE data

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Despite claims of rampant "migrant crime" in America, the vast majority of people booked into Central Virginia U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers in recent months were not considered violent criminals, according to ICE data.

Virginia has two formal ICE detention centers, both located in Central Virginia: the Caroline Detention Center in Caroline County and the Farmville Detention Center in Prince Edward County. Additionally, Riverside Regional Jail in Prince George County entered into an agreement with ICE to house its detainees in May 2025.

Between President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025 and Oct. 15, 2025, there have been about 8,448 total bookings between these three facilities, according to the most recent ICE arrest data from the Data Deportation Project.

Notably, one of those bookings was the wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, who was booked into the Farmville Detention Center.

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A cornerstone of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign was his promise to put an end to "migrant crime" in America. The claim that immigrants are committing crimes at a high rate has been one of Trump's talking points since his 2016 presidential campaign, when he said Mexicans were "bringing crime" and that "they're rapists."

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has also celebrated ICE's increased activity in Virginia, previously saying ICE agents were getting "really tough, bad guys off the street."

However, per ICE data, the majority of the people being detained by ICE -- not only in Virginia, but nationwide -- are not convicted criminals, nor have they been accused of committing any crime aside from an immigration violation.

Nearly 70% of those booked into Central Virginia ICE facilities since Trump's inauguration have no criminal record. Of those with convictions, only about 1% are listed as an aggravated felon -- or a person convicted of a serious, but not always violent, crime.

FROM JULY: Roughly half of detainees at both Farmville and Caroline detention centers are not criminals, according to ICE’s data

For detainees who do have a criminal record, ICE also notes the most serious crime they have been convicted of.

The most common conviction listed in this category for a Central Virginia detainee was driving under the influence of alcohol, with 550 bookings. The second-most common was simple assault, with 208 bookings.

Homicide was listed as the most serious conviction for less than two dozen detainees, and a sex crime was listed for less than 150 detainees.

Over 110 detainees' most serious offense was a traffic violation.

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Of the three facilities, Riverside Regional Jail saw the fewest convicted criminals booked, coming in at less than 20%.

ICE data on Central Virginia bookings also includes additional demographic information. About 98% of those booked were males, with 68% identifying as Hispanic or Latino. The majority are single or unmarried. The most-common countries these individuals are citizens of include Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and Venezuela.

On average, detainees are staying in the Caroline or Farmville detention centers for about a month. Riverside Regional Jail's average stay length is two days.

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However, dozens of detainees held at either Caroline or Farmville had logged stays close to or even exceeding 200 days as of Oct. 15, 2025.

8News recently reported that, between Trump’s inauguration and Oct. 15, a total of 6,610 people had been arrested by ICE agents in the state of Virginia. This puts Virginia in 6th-place nationally when it comes to ICE arrests.

For more on immigration enforcement in Central Virginia, click here.