U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) wrote to leadership at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding enforcement practices.
Warner’s letter highlights a March 5 incident where a U.S. citizen and Virginia resident was stopped and interrogated by ICE. The Manassas individual reported that he made multiple attempts to prove his citizenship, but despite efforts, was handcuffed and questioned about his immigration status.
In an interview with local media, the citizen provided details of his arrest, claiming that officers, who were looking for a different individual with a deportation order, rebuffed multiple attempts to provide identification and despite being told he was a U.S. citizen, continued to question his immigration status.
“All Virginians, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, deserve to be treated with respect and must be properly afforded their rights as expressed in the U.S. Constitution. Any law enforcement performing immigration enforcement must abide by the U.S. Constitution and federal law. When ICE agents violate or create the appearance of a violating the rights of their fellow citizens, it does harm to all Virginians and all Americans,” Warner wrote.
Warner wrote that the actions by ICE, which may be undisciplined, hostile or threatening, “will hinder relationships with local communities, further compromising trust and safety and risk potentially degrading ICE’s enforcement efforts and officer safety. Given DHS’ recent emphasis on the safety of its law enforcement agents, particularly ICE, I expect you share my concern for the risks to Virginians and law enforcement alike created by a perception of capricious or unjustified action taken against U.S. citizens.”
Warner requested clarity on ICE enforcement methods in Virginia and a detailed account of the March 5 arrest:
- Provide a detailed description of the events leading up to and during ICE’s arrest of a U.S. citizen in Manassas, Virginia on March 5, 2025.
- Did ICE partner or collaborate with any state or local law enforcement entities for this enforcement action? If so, please list the entities and the extent of the collaboration.
- Did the ICE agents present at the scene identify themselves as law enforcement? If so, how did they identify themselves? Were the individuals dressed in ICE uniform and/or was there a badge easily visible or a car plate to distinguish themselves as federal law enforcement?
- If the agents did identify themselves as federal law enforcement, did they do so prior to drawing their weapons? Please provide a detailed timeline.
- Were the ICE agents (and any other law enforcement involved in the incident) qualified to perform the detention and apprehension of the U.S. citizen and the other vehicle occupants? Were the ICE agents current on ICE’s use of force training and weapons qualifications?
- Who were the ICE agents originally seeking when they misidentified and detained the U.S. citizen? What authority did ICE utilize to proceed with deportation orders for the individual with whom they were originally seeking?
- How are ICE agents trained to investigate and verify U.S. citizenship or other lawful status when seeking persons of interest? How do ICE agents make an accurate determination of U.S. citizenship or other lawful status? What are the steps that ICE takes to ensure that its agents do not subject U.S. citizens and other individuals with lawful status to unnecessary and mistaken law enforcement encounters with ICE, including apprehension, arrest, detention, or deportation?
- What tools or resources does ICE utilize to make an accurate citizenship or lawful status determination prior to an individual’s interaction with ICE?
- Does ICE have all the adequate training, tools, or resources to prevent U.S. citizens from being mistakenly subject to ICE enforcement? If not, what additional training, tools, and resources does ICE need to ensure it does not mistakenly subject such individuals to enforcement?
- What identifying information about the person of interest did ICE have prior to stopping the U.S. citizen?
- What steps did ICE take to verify this information prior to stopping the U.S. citizen? Did ICE properly apply its own policies and procedures for verifying U.S. citizenship and did ICE exhaust all the tools and resources at their disposal to verify U.S. citizenship prior to stopping the U.S. citizen? Did the ICE agents contact the
- ICE Office of Principal Legal Advisor prior to detaining the U.S. citizen or after his release?
- Does the Department of Homeland Security systematically collect and maintain data of its encounters with individuals for whom there is evidence of U.S. citizenship or lawful status? If so, please provide data on how many U.S. citizens have been mistakenly subjected to ICE enforcement, including being apprehend, detained, or deported since January 20, 2025. If ICE does not collect this data, why not?
- How will ICE ensure that it is properly applying the policies and procedures regarding the investigation and verification of citizenship or lawful status prior to encounters with ICE?
- What steps does ICE take to remedy an encounter whereby they mistakenly applied enforcement actions to an individual who is not subject to ICE enforcement, such as a U.S. citizen? How will the agency prevent future instances?
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Rebecca Barnabi
