Protesters rally at city hall following ICE arrests in Richmond

Heciel Nieves Bonilla, Assistant News Editor

Community members and activists rallied at Richmond City Hall on Monday to protest recent deportations in the area, increased activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and to express solidarity with vulnerable community members.

The rally began with a calls from organizers for Richmond to formalize rules to block city officials and agencies from cooperating with ICE.

Richmond has not signed an official agreement with ICE or the Department of Homeland Security to cooperate on immigration raids or other enforcement actions — but it “does not describe itself as a sanctuary city,” according to spokesperson Ross Catrow. 

Surrounding counties Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Hanover and Henrico also pushed back against being labelled “sanctuary jurisdictions” by the DHS, according to ABC 8.

Fernanda Diaz-Castro, an organizer with the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality, led chants in English and Spanish throughout the rally including “¡Aquí estamos y no nos vamos! / We are here and we’re not leaving” and “¡La migra, policía, la misma porquería! / ICE, police, the same filth!” as well as the historical protest slogan “The people united will never be defeated.”

Other organizers included New Virginia Majority and Virginia Immigrants for Love, Liberation, Autonomy and Solidarity. The rally was also endorsed by the Virginia Muslim Civic League, Virginia Coalition for Human Rights, the Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church and the VCU chapters for United Campus Workers, the NAACP and Students for Justice in Palestine.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order in February directing the Virginia State Police and Department of Corrections to fully cooperate with ICE and requested that local police departments do the same. 

Virginia is a hotspot for immigration enforcement, data shows. Over 2,000 Virginia residents received deportation orders in March alone — 300 of whom were in the Richmond area. Arrests in June 2025 were six times higher than in 2024.

Another detention occurred on Friday when ICE arrested Henrico high-schooler Arman Momand as he was leaving a court hearing for misdemeanor driving charges, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Momand and his family are refugees from Afghanistan living in the United States. They were scheduled for a formal green card interview this week.

In June, at least fifteen people were detained by ICE at the Chesterfield County Courthouse while going through various legal processes of their own accord. Shortly after, Chesterfield officials noted fewer people were showing up for their court appointments, according to CBS 6. 

Youngkin voiced support last week for a Trump administration plan to order National Guard members to assist in ICE operations on an administrative level, according to VPM News. Around 60 Virginia National Guardsmen are expected to begin training with ICE in September, according to Radio IQ.

Ana Edwards, a founding member of the Virginia Defenders and a VCU African American studies professor, shared a note from 21-year-old Ricardo Martinez-Cantero, who was detained by ICE in south Richmond on July 30 and deported. He and his family had previously crossed the southern border seeking legal asylum in the United States. 

Martinez-Cantero was mistreated by federal agents and held in crowded cells at Riverside Regional Jail and Caroline Detention Facility in Caroline County before being eventually flown to Honduras, per the letter.

“In Honduras, I am not coming out of the house,” Martinez-Cantero wrote. “I am scared.”

In an interview with The CT, Edwards said Americans are having a difficult time accepting that the recent surge in immigration enforcement is not just similar to Nazi Germany, but the United States’ history of white supremacist policies.

“You really could pick a year and find a case that would run parallel to what’s happening right now,” Edwards said. “The general public does not know what to do in the face of it because suddenly they realize that they’re confronting their national identity.”

Diaz-Castro told The CT that lawmakers must create policies preventing police from cooperating with ICE, as well as the use of masks, unmarked vehicles and surveillance cameras on the street. 

“I think all of us are being faced with the reality that speaking out puts us at risk,” Diaz-Castro said. “We have right-wing authoritarianism sweeping in, and every single human being has a responsibility to stand up and resist.” 

Gabrielle Gray contributed to this article.