Local judicial and law enforcement systems were turned upside down on April 22, when two men were detained by plainclothes immigration officers at the Albemarle County General District Court. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is standing by its actions despite numerous concerns and questions raised by immigration activists and civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union.
The men detained, identified by Virginia Public Media as Teodoro Dominguez-Rodriguez of Honduras and Pablo Aparicio-Marcelino of Mexico, are currently in custody at the ICE detention center run by Abyon in Farmville, Virginia.
A video published by The Daily Progress shows three plainclothes federal officers, one of whom is wearing a balaclava in violation of Virginia Code 18.2-422, closing in on one of the men as two unidentified bystanders ask to see a warrant. The agents did not show a warrant, badge, or other identification to the men prior to arrest, according to witnesses at the scene.
Security at the courthouse is handled by the Albemarle County Sheriff’s Office. Both the ACSO and the Albemarle County Police Department say they were not aware of the federal law enforcement action prior to ICE agents arriving at the courthouse. According to Sheriff Chan Bryant, the federal agents showed identification, including badges and credentials, and warrants to bailiffs prior to making the arrests.
“The agents informed the bailiffs at that time that they were there to detain two individuals who had court cases in the Albemarle County General District Court,” said Bryant in an April 23 press release. After the first man was detained and removed from the building, a crowd gathered and began recording the incident. “When the federal agents became the subject of an individual recording them, one of the agents put on a hood to cover his face. After the conclusion of the second individual[’s] court hearing, he was detained by federal authorities and escorted out of the building.”
Several local and state legal authorities have since spoken out against the detainments.
Jim Hingeley, commonwealth’s attorney for Albemarle County, was not present at the time of the detainments, but has publicly criticized the actions and has opened an investigation into the incident.
“I am grateful that no one was hurt in this operation, but I am also greatly concerned that arrests carried out in this manner could escalate into a violent confrontation, because the person being arrested or bystanders might resist what appears on its face to be an unlawful assault and abduction,” said Hingeley in an April 23 release.
An ICE spokesperson responded to Hingeley’s comments on April 26, indicating that the agency stands by its actions, intends to prosecute the bystanders who “unsuccessfully attempted to obstruct enforcement efforts,” and accused Hingeley of “posturing for the media … to gain political capital.”
The same statement labels Dominguez-Rodriguez as an “illegally present, violent Honduran alien.” The Virginia Online Court Case Information System lists two charges against the defendant for assault and battery, one of which was dismissed in court on April 22. The other charge has not yet gone to adjudication.
Hingeley responded to the ICE statement the same day. “It is a fact that the method chosen by ICE agents to make these arrests constituted a risk to public safety, and I stand by that statement. In Albemarle County, at least, if not at ICE, facts are facts, and I am confident my constituents appreciate my efforts to bring facts to light,” he said. “My investigation is balanced and impartial, and I have received input from the federal agencies involved in making the arrests, all the more reason, it seems to me, to conclude that the ICE spokesperson’s attack on my integrity was misguided. I leave it to my constituents to decide who was ‘posturing for the media.’”
Chief Public Defender for Charlottesville and Albemarle County Nick Reppucci, whose office was representing Dominguez-Rodriguez in court that day, also condemned the detainments.
In addition to the impingement of his client’s rights, Reppucci is concerned about the potential “chilling effect” on participation with the justice system, discouraging people from showing up to court, reporting crimes, or seeking legal help. “It is not just the undocumented community that will be negatively affected, but everyone who lives in, works in, or visits Charlottesville,” he says. “Our community is less safe and just than it was a few days ago.”
From Reppucci’s perspective, legal action against the bystanders shown in The Daily Progress video would further exacerbate harm to the Charlottesville community.
“The thought process behind it, in my opinion, would be to intimidate the community and individuals from demanding that law enforcement follow correct protocol,” he says. “If the protocol becomes accepted in our society, that people can just say that they’re law enforcement and seize people off the streets under the guise that they are enforcing immigration laws, it’s going to lead to widespread abuses of people’s rights and undoubtedly copycat criminal behavior.
Bryant acknowledged the potential impact of the detainments on the local justice system in a comment via email, but also said that “Albemarle County Sheriff’s Deputies identified the federal law enforcement agents by their badges and credentials, therefore they knew that it was not a kidnapping, and the federal agents were there on their official business. I cannot speak on other law enforcement agencies’ policy and procedures relating to how they identify themselves to the public.”
Local representatives are also weighing in on the April 22 detainments. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine echoed many of Reppucci and Hingeley’s points in an email, sharing that his staff is currently looking into the incident. “Particularly in settings like courthouses, which are staffed by armed officers, it’s important that law enforcement officers are clearly identified to help avoid misunderstandings that could lead to escalation of violence, even to include officer-on-officer fire,” he said. State Sen. Creigh Deeds and Del. Katrina Callsen are also investigating, and jointly filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Albemarle County the day after the ICE action. Developments are available on Callsen’s website as they emerge.
At press time, Dominguez-Rodriguez and Aparicio-Marcelino remain in custody at the Farmville Detention Center, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office has not filed charges against the bystanders.
