(The Center Square) – Immigration policy think tank the Center for Immigration Studies released its updated map of America’s sanctuary cities on Thursday, showing that more and more places in Virginia are adopting sanctuary status.
The center added 36 locations in Virginia to its map, bringing the total to 84.
Aside from sanctuary states, the Commonwealth now tops the list of states with the most sanctuary jurisdictions, according to the center’s map, which is based on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “internal tracking of non-cooperative institutions.”
Jessica Vaughn, director of political science at the center – which describes itself as “low-immigration and pro-immigrant” – lamented the increase in sanctuary zones, saying they place an undue burden on the immigration enforcement agency (ICE) and create opportunities for more crime.
“It is alarming that asylum policy is becoming increasingly rampant, especially in places like Virginia,” she said in a center podcast. “ICE has had to use its scarce resources to re-arrest violent gang members and rapists in our communities who were released from local jails when they should have been transferred directly to ICE custody to be flown home.”
Vaughan believes state and federal lawmakers should adopt policies that prevent local law enforcement from violating ICE protocol and punish those who do.
The center began monitoring sanctuary areas in 2015, basing its information on ICE records and open sources. Since 2015, more than 10,000 migrants have been “detained by local authorities for state and local crimes” but “released back onto the streets due to sanctuary policy, even though ICE sought detention with a warrant,” with a “significant proportion” later reoffending, the center said.
Because there is no nationwide definition of a sanctuary city, the term is not used in many municipalities that have a sanctuary policy.
Fairfax County adopted a policy in 2021 to “reaffirm” existing county policies as part of One Fairfax that protect migrants from having their immigration status disclosed to federal authorities.
As an example of a migrant who was released from prison and allegedly reoffended, the center cited a man from Honduras who was arrested and accused of a sex crime against a child.
He was released from prison in July 2023 after being arrested by Fairfax County police “despite an ICE warrant.” Fairfax police arrested him again in February 2024 on allegedly four more counts of sex crimes against children, and the prison released him again on $10,000 bail, the center said.
“In April 2024, ICE sent a team of agents to arrest the perpetrator at his home in Bladensburg, Maryland, and stated that he would remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of the case,” the center said.