It’s looking less likely that a proposed ICE detention center will be put in Stafford.
The county Board of Supervisors issued a statement Tuesday, saying that “no official communication” has indicated the locality is being considered for a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, and board Chairman Deuntay Diggs expanded on that at the supervisors’ meeting Tuesday evening.
“The Board is aware of the initial article that referenced a potential ICE detention facility in the county,” the statement said. “There appears to be a discrepancy with the address in the documents that led to this assumption. At this time, there has been no official communication or correspondence indicating that Stafford County is being considered for such a facility. If this information changes, the Board will provide updates to the community.”
A Washington Post story published in December said Stafford was a possible location for one of several new ICE facilities that could be set up under a new deportation system. The proposed county operation would hold as many as 10,000 beds, according to the story, and it would be part of a system aimed at improving the federal government’s efficiency in deporting undocumented immigrants.
Diggs, who in December spoke against the notion of a local ICE center, told the audience at the supervisors’ meeting that the county had received “no application, proposal, permit or formal request related to an ICE facility.”
“We understand that issues like this can create anxiety, and we take public concerns seriously,” he said. “Should any legitimate proposal ever come before the county, it would follow our established public process, including public notice.”
A few of his colleagues followed with comments later in the meeting.
Board Vice Chairwoman Maya Guy encouraged Stafford residents to try to get together even when issues such as immigration divide. Guy spoke about living in Tel Aviv as a child and about meeting a Holocaust survivor and seeing his Auschwitz tattoo.
“I just have to say, personally — and I am not speaking for the board, I’m speaking personally — I think housing humanity in detention centers is something we shouldn’t do,” she said.
Garrisonville District Supervisor Pamela Yeung read a statement that mentioned George Floyd, a Black man who was murdered in 2021 by a White police officer in Minnesota. She said no lives are expendable, and she seemed to speak against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, though she didn’t mention him by name.
“Enforcement without humanity does not create safety,” Yeung said. “It creates fear, trauma and mistrust.”
Ten people attending Tuesday’s meeting also spoke out against the idea of putting an ICE detention center in Stafford. Two of them mentioned concentration camps; another, Japanese internment camps.
Two of the speakers were Bill and Susanna Botts, a married couple who live in the Falmouth District. Bill Botts is the former executive director of Rappahannock Legal Services, which is now called Legal Aid Works.
Botts urged the supervisors to publicly encourage people who own warehouses that could house detention centers not to sell or lease to the Department of Homeland Security.
“Because once that happens, many of the tools in our toolbox are gone,” he said.
Paula Garcia Gonzalez, who lives in the Aquia District, said the mere possibility of ICE setting up shop in Stafford has created panic.
“I understand the board has said that there’s no official confirmation; however, even the possibility creates real fear in our community,” she said. “Families are being scared, people are worried and the lack of transparency makes it feel that decisions can happen quietly behind closed doors without the public knowing until it’s too late. The silence hurts.”
Rep. Eugene Vindman, whose 7th District includes the Fredericksburg area, has also been vocal in criticizing ICE from Washington.
On Monday, the lawmaker announced that he joined colleagues from the Virginia House Democratic delegation in sending a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons opposing the potential for a detention center in Stafford and a similar facility in Hanover County.
“Since early last year, we have witnessed an increasingly aggressive and militant ICE under your leadership,” the Democrats wrote. “Most recently in Minneapolis, we have seen federal immigration agents kill two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and injure dozens more. These reckless raids on our communities have resulted in the wrongful detention of hundreds of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. This disproportionate use of force is utterly unacceptable.”
Vindman, who also lambasted the Stafford proposal last month, has opposed funding for Homeland Security and backed a resolution to impeach Noem.
