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Loudoun activists say immigration crackdown feeds climate of fear
The Trump administration's national immigration crackdown has created a climate of fear in Loudoun County, immigration advocates said at a June 12 news conference. "Our communities are under attack," said Sofia Saiyed, campaign coordinator for New Virginia Majority, a nonprofit immigration reform group. "Our (immigration) systems have long been broken, but today they are reaching a new level of crisis at the federal, state, and local levels."
New Virginia Majority Protests ICE Arrests, LCSO Agreement at Sterling Immigration Court
After U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began arresting undocumented immigrants – particularly at the Sterling Immigration Court – community members gathered on Thursday to protest the actions and an agreement between the Sheriff’s Office and ICE. A press conference was led by the political advocacy group New Virginia Majority whose members have been raising the alarm about increased ICE actions in Loudoun. “Right now, our communities are under attack,” NVM Campaign Director Sofia Saiyed said.
Miyares leans in on law-and-order message ahead of 2025 election
As protests erupt again in Los Angeles over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and President Donald Trump’s deployment of U.S. Marines to back up the National Guard, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares isn’t blinking. “It’s not unprecedented,” Miyares, who is seeking a second term as Virginia’s top law enforcement official, said of Trump’s decision to send troops to the streets. . . . In a wide-ranging interview at his office in Richmond earlier this week, Miyares, the son of a Cuban refugee and the first Hispanic Virginian elected statewide, insisted that what’s happening in California is the result of leadership failure.
ICE Makes Arrests at Sterling Immigration Court
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday arrested up to 11 people at the Sterling Immigration Court building. New Virginia Majority Loudoun & Western Fairfax Campaign Coordinator Sofia Saiyed said the officers were not identifiable and would not say where they were taking the individuals. “They started taking people three by three and packing them into vans and taking the vans away,” Saiyed said.
Big bet: Can a $130M conservation deal in Virginia’s coal country curb climate change and lift Appalachia?
Waiting around isn’t Debbi Hale’s forte. So nobody in this depleted coalfield town of barely 850 near the Kentucky border was shocked four years ago when the retired gym teacher orchestrated a $10,000 makeover of a neglected patch of grass across from a trailer court. From there, it’s just a short hike down to a paddler’s bliss, where Bad Creek flows into eight undisturbed miles of the Pound River. Then, just days before the July 2022 ribbon-cutting, a ferocious flood ripped through Appalachia. . . . It’s an all-too-familiar pattern for the Wise County native. Such exhausting episodes of one step forward, two steps back are common in this place, which has foundered as King Coal’s century-plus reign plays out. That demise has government agencies and entrepreneurs alike casting about to “fix Appalachia” . . .
Alpha-gal syndrome is gaining recognition in Virginia
Just days before Christmas 2021, Nicole Cooper was struggling to breathe. Her husband called 911, and moments before the ambulance arrived, Cooper jabbed herself with an epinephrine shot. She could tell she was having an allergic reaction, but she didn’t know what she was reacting to. She remembers the panic, the medical questions and treatments in the emergency room. What she doesn’t remember is the tick bite that triggered it all. . . . A bill that passed unanimously during the 2024 General Assembly session added alpha-gal syndrome to Virginia’s list of reportable diseases. Starting July 1, health care professionals must report cases to the Virginia Department of Health.
Hampton defers camping in public spaces ban after community pushback
City Council delayed a vote Wednesday to ban camping and storage on public property, which would have cleared the way for the city to criminalize homeless encampments. Mayor Jimmy Gray said the decision came after individual conversations with council members, and a new version of the ordinance will be presented in August. ... Nearly 20 people spoke at Wednesday’s council meeting against the proposal, with some critical of how it would affect homeless people and highlighting the need for more resources such as affordable housing.
Toalson: Yes, Virginia, we can build our way out of the housing crisis
Virginia’s housing production is not keeping pace with overwhelming demand for it. Our population increased by 0.9% (nearly 77,000 people) from July 2023 to July 2024. Last year, and consistent with recent years, Virginia issued just 34,000 single-family and multifamily permits — roughly half the annual pace from the mid-2000s, and we trail our neighboring states in permits. The result is that more families, workers and young people are struggling to find Virginia homes they can afford. Housing competition is intensifying across Virginia because the supply is falling short.
Trump parade, nationwide ‘No Kings’ protests mirror national division
Saturday will mark 250 years since the Second Continental Congress approved the creation of an army to organize a military response to the increasingly intolerable rule of the British, a day now celebrated as the birth of the U.S. Army. Two years later, also on June 14, the colonial legislature adopted a resolution regarding the design of a new flag, now recognized annually as Flag Day. Both are worth commemorating and, in normal times, would be cause for national celebrations. But these aren’t normal times, and Saturday will instead feature an unprecedented parade of military hardware and personnel in Washington, D.C., and the likelihood of widespread protests across the country, including several in Hampton Roads.
Moss Free Clinic is ceasing operations in Fredericksburg
The Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic announced it was ceasing operations on Thursday, June 12, after 16 months of struggling to keep the doors open as its operational funds were used up and its longtime partnership with Mary Washington Healthcare dissolved. “The clinic is working with area health systems and health-care providers to ensure continuity of care for current patients,” Corie Bacher, director of development, stated in a two-paragraph news release.