A coalition of Alexandria residents and community organizations delivered a letter to Sheriff Sean Casey on Tuesday, demanding that he stop his voluntary collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE Out of Alexandria, representing 26 local groups and leaders, held a rally and press conference at the sheriff’s office at 2001 Mill Road to present their demands, according to a press release from the group.
Sheriff’s cooperation practices
The coalition says Casey cooperates with ICE in three ways: holding inmates up to eight hours past their release dates for ICE pickup, providing “courtesy calls” to notify ICE when potentially undocumented individuals are being released, and transferring people to ICE custody under administrative warrants. According to the activists, 40 people have been transferred to ICE custody this year as of August.
In their letter, the coalition stated that under Virginia code, “the Sheriff has no legal obligation to transfer an individual to ICE custody.” The letter argues that while state law requires submitting queries to ICE’s database for individuals not known to be U.S. citizens, it does not require transferring custody, making courtesy notifications, or holding individuals for ICE pickup.
What Virginia law requires
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 make immigration alien queries to ICE’s Law Enforcement Support Center. However, the law uses the word “shall” to describe queries and reporting requirements, but does not explicitly mandate transfers to ICE custody absent a judicial warrant.
The letter cites court rulings finding ICE holds “unconstitutional and a violation of people’s basic rights,” and notes that an estimated 70% of ICE arrests result from detainer and transfer from other law enforcement agencies, according to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
Activists’ concerns
“I am disappointed Sheriff Casey is continuing to voluntarily collaborate with ICE when he doesn’t have to,” said Oliver Merino, a longtime city resident. “Alexandria’s police force has been instructed not to collaborate with ICE. The Sheriff is an elected position and as such should be more accountable to city residents, not less.”
The activists point to neighboring Fairfax County, where Sheriff Stacey Kincaid ended voluntary ICE cooperation in 2024 after seeking legal counsel, according to the coalition.
Katherine O’Connell, an organizer with ICE Out of Alexandria, cited conditions at the ICE field office in Chantilly, where she said dozens of people are held in single rooms with limited access to showers, bathrooms, and food.
“Sheriff Casey is sending our neighbors into those conditions, without a trial or any type of due process,” O’Connell said.
Who signed the letter
The letter was signed by more than two dozen organizations and individuals, including religious leaders, advocacy groups, and community organizations such as Alexandria for Palestinian Human Rights, Grace Episcopal Church, Jewish Voice for Peace – D.C. Metro, SURJ Northern Virginia, and the Virginia Coalition for Human Rights.
Sheriff’s response
The rally follows a City Council public hearing Saturday, where more than a dozen coalition members called on elected officials to condemn Casey’s cooperation with ICE publicly.
In response to the rally and letter, 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.
