ICE Transfers From Sheriff's Office Criticized By Alexandria Mayor, City Council

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and Alexandria City Council are seeking an end to the Alexandria Sheriff's Office's "voluntary" cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The elected officials shared their statement against the sheriff's office policy during a Wednesday meeting.

The sheriff's office policy of transferring inmates to ICE has been under fire by activist group ICE Out of Alexandria. Now, the new statement from the mayor and council members calls for an end to sheriff's office transfers from the jail to ICE custody in response to ICE administrative detainers and warrants. The statement called for the Alexandria sheriff to follow the policy of Arlington and Fairfax County's sheriffs, who transfer to ICE only with a judicial warrant.

"We are made stronger by the many immigrants and immigrant communities that reside, work, go to school and socialize in Alexandria," the joint statement read. "While this Council remains committed to insuring the public safety of our residents and to Alexandria as the safe place to live, work and play that it is today, supporting and safeguarding our immigrant communities while maintaining public safety are not mutually exclusive goals."

The statement acknowledged that the sheriff's office policy has been in place during both Republican and Democratic administrations and did not allege it was unconstitutional. Groups critical of ICE have pointed to more concerns about ICE raids under the Trump administration, including in Alexandria.

"Given the current federal administration's view towards immigration enforcement and the tactics of fear, intimidation and lack of due process employed currently by ICE, the City Council finds it necessary to affirm that we do not support any voluntary participation by the Sheriff's office in ICE immigration procedures," the statement read.

Sheriff Sean Casey responded in a statement to ALX Now that his office doesn't do immigration enforcement and is "committed to building trust with all residents, especially our immigrant neighbors." The sheriff said there has been City Council confusion over lawful arrest warrants versus ICE detainers.

"This has led to unfair and inaccurate suggestions that the Sheriff’s Office is acting like ICE in our community, which is simply not true," the statement read in part.

The sheriff's office rejected claims that it was enforcing administrative immigration warrants — outside of those facing other criminal charges at the jail. The spokesperson noted that Casey rejected a governor's directive for all Virginia law enforcement agencies to participate in immigration enforcement in their communities.

The sheriff's office provided an update in early November explaining policies on working with ICE and what's required by law. The office said it will not hold inmates beyond release dates based on ICE detainers and only allow ICE to take custody of an inmate with a federal arrest warrant, not an ICE detainer. Additionally, ICE has not been permitted to use the Alexandria jail to hold its detainees for several years.

Under Virginia law, the sheriff's office must notify ICE of inmates in custody that have been charged with crimes. If ICE wants to take custody, it will issue a detainer indicating a warrant for arrest. Staff are notified of the arrest warrant when the inmate is scheduled to be released. The sheriff's office acknowledged that detainers are a request and do not legally obligate law enforcement to hold inmates "otherwise eligible for immediate release from local or state custody."

"Sheriff Casey fully concurs with this opinion and, as a result, the Sheriff’s Office takes no legal action based on the detainer," the sheriff's office statement read.

The sheriff's office previously responded to claims from ICE Out of Alexandria about the sheriff's office ICE cooperation in a statement to Patch.

ICE Out of Alexandria had cited the sheriff's office report of 40 transfers to ICE custody in 2025 through August. A sheriff's office spokesperson clarified that the 40 transferred to ICE custody were among the 1,552 people facing criminal charges who were taken to the Alexandria jail from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31. The 40 sent to ICE custody had "lawful federal arrest warrants," according to the sheriff's office.