Alexandria City Council calls on sheriff to stop ICE transfers
Council reads collective statement opposing Sheriff Casey's practice of transferring inmates to immigration authorities on administrative warrants
Alexandria City Council issued a collective statement on Wednesday calling on Sheriff Sean Casey to stop transferring inmates to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in response to administrative detainers and warrants.
Mayor Alyia Gaskins read the statement following a closed session at the end of the night’s legislative meeting, marking the first time the council has taken a unified public position on the sheriff’s ICE cooperation practices since residents packed council chambers in October, demanding action.
“We do not support any voluntary participation by the Sheriff’s Office in ICE immigration procedures,” Gaskins said. “We call upon the Sheriff to cease his transfer of persons in his custody in response to ICE administrative detainers and warrants.”
The statement asks Casey to join sheriffs in Arlington and Fairfax counties, “who only complete transfers in compliance with judicial warrants.” Administrative warrants lack the enforcement power of judicial warrants signed by judges.
The council acknowledges Casey’s office is “an independently elected constitutional office possessing the discretion to determine whether to honor such administrative warrants.”
“We do not allege that the Sheriff’s practice is unconstitutional, though we note that it is voluntary,” Gaskins said, reading from the statement.
According to speakers at October’s public hearing, Casey transferred 40 people to ICE custody through August, with 35 transfers occurring in the first half of 2025. Sheriff’s office data shows ICE transfers peaked at 147 in 2012 and dropped to 11 in 2021 before rising to 33 in 2023 and 43 in 2024.
Casey has maintained that his office follows Virginia law and does not “collaborate” with ICE. The Sheriff’s Office updated its public statement on ICE cooperation as recently as Nov. 5, stating it transfers inmates to ICE custody “on their scheduled release date, provided ICE has filed a lawful arrest warrant.”
In an August statement, Casey said Virginia law mandates communication with ICE and provides statutory authority for transferring inmates to ICE custody upon receipt of lawful arrest warrants. The November update emphasized the office does not hold inmates past their release date and cited a Virginia Attorney General opinion that ICE detainers are “merely a request” and do not legally obligate law enforcement to maintain custody.
Amy Bertsch, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, told me in October that all transfers are handled promptly, safely, and in accordance with the law.
The Alexandria Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond on Wednesday night to a request for comment on the council’s statement.
The council’s statement emphasized that supporting immigrant communities and maintaining public safety are “not mutually exclusive goals.”
“Alexandria has always been and will continue to be a diverse, inclusive and welcoming community,” Gaskins said. “We are made stronger by the many immigrants and immigrant communities that reside, work, go to school and socialize in Alexandria.”
The statement referenced “tactics of fear, intimidation and lack of due process employed currently by ICE” under the current federal administration as reasons for the council’s position.
“Given the ICE tactics we have observed already here in Alexandria and around the country, we ask him to reconsider his current practice and cease any transfer of inmates pursuant to ICE administrative detainers,” Gaskins said.