More than a dozen Alexandria residents packed City Council chambers Saturday morning to demand elected officials publicly condemn what they described as Sheriff Sean Casey’s voluntary collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The speakers, part of the ICE Out of Alexandria coalition, called on council members during the scheduled public hearing to take a public stance against the sheriff’s practice of holding inmates beyond their release time and making courtesy calls to ICE about upcoming releases.
According to speakers, Casey has transferred 40 people to ICE custody as of August, with 35 transfers occurring in the first half of 2025. The speakers emphasized that in no case did ICE present a judicial warrant forcing the sheriff’s hand.
Legal Requirements vs. Voluntary Cooperation
Oliver Marino, an Alexandria resident who works at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, emphasized that the sheriff’s collaboration is voluntary rather than legally required.
“Sheriff Casey has argued that he’s obligated to transfer people to ICE. This is false,” Marino said. “He is not required to do so unless ICE presents a judicial warrant, which is signed by a judge.”
Marino said the coalition consulted with immigration and policy attorneys from the ACLU of Virginia, Legal Aid Justice Center, and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center — organizations listed as resources on Alexandria’s own website.
“Sheriffs have the authority to deny transfer of custody absent a judicial warrant. It’s plain and simple,” Marino said.
Jonathan Paul, speaking on behalf of the coalition, said Casey’s response to questions about ICE cooperation was “apparently based on the idea that we should, whenever possible, stop our judicial system from releasing anybody to the public ever, as long as we have the option to hold somebody.”
“This is the logic of mass incarceration,” Paul said.
Personal Impact on Families
Reverend Alyssa Aldape, a pastor and Alexandria resident, described the personal impact of the sheriff’s policies on immigrant families.
“As the daughter of Mexican immigrants who will be birthing a second-generation Mexican American, I’m coming here today to ask you to consider having the moral courage to tell Sheriff Casey to stop being cooperative with ICE,” Aldape said.
Several speakers noted that other Virginia sheriffs have chosen different approaches, pointing to Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid, who has refused ICE orders since 2022.
According to the coalition’s press release, Sheriff Casey voluntarily cooperates with ICE in three ways: holding people past their release date for up to eight hours so ICE can pick them up; giving ICE “courtesy calls” about upcoming releases of potentially undocumented individuals; and transferring people to ICE custody under administrative warrants, which lack the enforcement power of judicial warrants.
Recent ICE Operations
The coalition’s press release stated that since President Trump took office in January 2025, ICE raids have increased nationwide, with Virginia seeing an arrest rate increase of over 350%. The release said Alexandria has experienced at least two significant ICE raids where people were taken from their jobs and homes.
The speakers described conditions at ICE detention facilities, including the Farmville detention center where transferred individuals are held, citing concerns about overcrowding, insufficient medical care, and solitary confinement.
Cameron White, an organizer with ICE Out of Alexandria, said in the coalition’s press release: “The conditions in ICE holding facilities throughout Virginia are horrifying. People are crammed in rooms together, without access to basic hygiene, medications, food and water. I am deeply troubled that Sheriff Casey is transferring people into those holding facilities when he doesn’t have to. I hope our city council members share my horror and my concern for our neighbors. They must condemn the Sheriff’s actions.”
Speakers also referenced policies in other cities, including Chicago’s ICE Free Zone Executive Order, prohibiting federal agents from using city property for immigration enforcement operations.
Speakers’ Demands
The speakers emphasized that their demands extend beyond individual cases to broader policy changes. They called for an end to ICE holds, courtesy calls, and all voluntary transfers to ICE custody.
“We need this council to make a clear and public statement that any collaboration between the sheriff’s office and ICE is unacceptable, and to back that statement with real action,” said one West End resident. “Silence is not neutrality. It’s permission.”
The coalition says that it has previously met with Sheriff Casey to request changes to his policies, but speakers said he has refused to end the voluntary collaboration practices.
Council Response
After hearing from speakers, Councilman Canek Aguirre said he would share language from Evanston, Illinois, which passed an ICE-free zone resolution on October 13, with the City Attorney’s office to explore options. However, he cautioned that such measures would likely be preempted by the Dillon Rule, which limits the authority of Virginia localities.
“I have that language. I don’t want to get people’s hopes up because my initial reaction is that it will probably be preempted by the Dillon rule,” Aguirre said. “But I will be sharing that language with the City Attorney’s office to see if we can do something similar.”
Mayor Alyia Gaskins indicated she had asked the City Attorney to investigate whether the city has the authority to create ICE-free zone policies similar to those in Illinois, which prohibit federal agents from using city property for immigration enforcement operations.
“I don’t alone by myself” have that authority, Gaskins said. “But I think if there is something that we could do as a council, I would be in full support.”
ALXnow reached out to both council members for more information about their comments, inquiries to the City Attorney.
In a follow-up email to ALXnow, Aguirre shared details of the Evanston resolution, which directs city staff to identify city-owned property that could be used as enforcement operation staging areas, post signage identifying these areas as city-owned and off-limits for immigration agents, and install physical barriers such as locked gates to control these areas “wherever available and appropriate.” The resolution also implements procedures for staff to alert city leadership if they see federal agents using city property and provides signage for private property owners to mark their own property as ICE-free zones.
Sheriff’s Office Position
Sheriff Casey released a statement on the Sheriff’s Office website in August addressing the collaboration concerns. The webpage was last updated on October 1.
“We do not ‘collaborate’ with ICE; we follow the law,” Casey wrote in the August 20 statement. “Virginia State law mandates communication with ICE and provides statutory authority for the lawful transfer of inmates in custody to ICE. Accordingly, we are required and obligated to transfer inmates to ICE upon receipt of a lawful arrest warrant.”
Casey stated that the Sheriff’s Office does not hold individuals beyond their release date for ICE, calling claims that the office “voluntarily holds immigrants past their release time to facilitate ICE pick-ups” false.
“All transfers to ICE, or to any other law enforcement agency, are carried out promptly, professionally, safely, and in accordance with the law,” Casey wrote. “It is important to note that there is no single fixed ‘release time’ for inmates.”
According to the website, the Sheriff’s Office transferred 40 people to ICE custody through August 31, 2025. The office provided historical transfer data showing transfers peaked at 147 in 2012 and dropped to a low of 11 in 2021 before rising to 33 in 2023 and 43 in 2024.
Casey also stated in the August 20 statement that he “rejected the Governor’s Office demand that all Virginia law enforcement agencies, to include the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office, participate and cooperate in immigration enforcement in our communities.” He noted that ICE has not been permitted to use the jail for detainees for several years.
Virginia law requires sheriffs under Code of Virginia §19.2-83.2 and §53.1-218 to determine the citizenship of individuals arrested on felony charges and share this information with ICE. In accordance with Virginia Code §53.1-220.2, the Sheriff’s Office transfers custody of an inmate to ICE on their scheduled release date, provided ICE has filed a lawful arrest warrant.
Sheriff’s Response
This story was updated with the Sheriff’s Office response at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 21.
In response to this rally and a letter delivered to the Sheriff’s office on Tuesday, Amy Bertsch, public information officer for the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office, said Tuesday that the office does not take part in immigration enforcement in the community and that Casey rejected the governor’s demand earlier this year that all law enforcement agencies participate in immigration enforcement.
“The Alexandria Sheriff’s Office does not ‘collaborate’ with ICE and the notifications we make to ICE are not ‘courtesy’ calls; we do follow the law and Virginia law requires that we communicate with ICE and provides statutory authority for the transfer of inmates to ICE,” Bertsch said. “We are required and obligated to transfer inmates to ICE upon receipt of a lawful arrest warrant, and this process is the same for all law enforcement agencies seeking custody of an inmate at the Alexandria jail.”
Bertsch said the office does not hold individuals beyond their release date for ICE and called claims that the office holds immigrants beyond their release time false. She said all transfers to ICE and other law enforcement agencies are handled promptly, safely and in accordance with the law.
Bertsch said that between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31 of this year, 1,552 local arrestees were transported to the Alexandria jail by law enforcement and subsequently charged with crimes. Of those, 40 inmates were transferred to ICE custody pursuant to lawful federal arrest warrants.
In an August statement on the Sheriff’s Office website, Casey said the office does not “collaborate” with ICE but follows Virginia law, which mandates communication with ICE and provides authority for transferring inmates to ICE custody upon receipt of a lawful arrest warrant.
According to the Sheriff’s Office website, the office transferred 40 people to ICE custody through Aug. 31, 2025. The office provided historical transfer data showing transfers peaked at 147 in 2012 and dropped to a low of 11 in 2021 before rising to 33 in 2023 and 43 in 2024.
Following are the number of inmates transferred to ICE in recent years:
2012 — 147
2013 — 119
2014 — 96
2015 — 50
2016 — 56
2017 — 105
2018 — 121
2019 — 89
2020 — 35
2021 — 11
2022 — 12
2023 — 33
2024 — 43
2025 — 40 (through August 31)
Casey also stated in the August statement that ICE has not been permitted to use the jail for detainees for several years.
