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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.
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.
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."
Loudoun Supervisor Sees New ‘Reality’ Amid Unprecedented Power Growth
Loudoun Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Michael Turner (D-Ashburn) has been voicing concerns for years about the challenges and impacts of supplying power to the area’s data centers. After the latest report from the region’s energy coordinator, he is stepping up that alarm. PJM Interconnection, the entity responsible for coordinating power throughout 13 states including Virginia, is seeing demand for electricity grow more rapidly than predicted just a year ago—at a rate that, it said, that could not have been foreseen.
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.
Henrico board OKs new rules to limit rapid data center growth
Henrico officially scrapped its plans for a technology overlay district around the White Oak Technology Park for new, stricter regulations. The decision was made at a Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday night. Any developer seeking to build a data center in Henrico will now have to get a stamp of approval from the board. The idea is that board members can reject any project that doesn’t have adequate protections for residents, such as the distance between a data center and residential homes, excess light pollution or noise in the evenings.
Martinsville City Council members remain mostly mum on lawsuit controversy
Members of the Martinsville City Council are remaining largely quiet about the federal lawsuit filed by council member Aaron Rawls against the city manager and city sheriff’s deputy. Council members each cited the pending litigation as their reason for not commenting on the suit that Rawls filed against City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides and Deputy Reva Keen. . . . Rawls filed the case June 2 in U.S. District Court in Danville. The suit alleges that the pair acted in violation of Rawls’ First, Fourth and 14th amendment rights. The alleged violations are concerned with Rawls’ right to speech, freedom from unlawful seizure and deprivation of liberty.
New dashboard brings near real-time info about crime around the region
Police departments around the region are increasingly offering updates on crime data, but depending on how big the department is, the speed of those updates might vary. . . . But to track it all, you usually have to go to each individual department’s webpage and search around for the information you want, if you’re trying to compare one area to another. That will no longer be the case. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has unveiled a new dashboard that lets you track crime around the region, from the District to the biggest suburban counties in Maryland to the smaller municipalities that also work with COG. You can break it down by jurisdiction or group the D.C. area together.
D.C. region launches dashboard to deliver more detailed, timely crime data
A new initiative reporting crime data from across the D.C. region in “near-real time” has won praise from local leaders and will provide new tools for policymakers, public safety agencies and the public. “It’s the only one we’re aware of in the nation,” said Eli Russ, a senior public safety planner for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), who serves as project manager for the effort. Officially launched before the group’s monthly meeting Wednesday, the new COG Regional Crime Dashboard will draw from daily reports issued by public safety agencies in 24 jurisdictions spread across D.C., Virginia and Maryland.
Killing a Biden-era submarine deal would be a 'lost opportunity' for Hampton Roads, local leader says
When Australia and the United Kingdom signed a deal to buy nuclear submarines from the United States and have U.S. experts teach them to build their own, Hampton Roads officials saw doors opening. The deal, which would see Australia buy as many as five Virginia-class subs from the U.S. to help curb China’s expanding influence in the Pacific, could ultimately be worth more than $200 billion over the next couple of decades. But President Donald Trump announced Wednesday his administration will review the Biden-era deal to ensure it aligns with Trump’s “America First” agenda.