Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman on Tuesday accused a Democratic county supervisor of making “false” claims about deputies helping federal immigration authorities round up illegal immigrants.
“Supervisor [Juli] Briskman’s false reporting is a shameful attempt to divide our strong community and undermine law enforcement in one of the safest major counties in the nation,” Sheriff Chapman said.
He was responding to Ms. Briskman’s claim that deputies had detained someone for Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the person called police for assistance following a car crash.
Ms. Briskman, who launched her political career after she flipped off President Trump’s motorcade in Loudoun County in 2017, also criticized the sheriff’s office’s detainer agreement with ICE, which requires the office to hold arrested illegal immigrants until federal authorities take custody of them.
Sheriff Chapman called Ms. Briskman’s statement “a regurgitation of previous false statements and her history of opposing public safety measures in furtherance of her political ambitions.”
He specifically disputed Ms. Briskman’s statement that the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office is joining in ICE’s field operations.
Sheriff Chapman said deputies do not vet for immigration status when making a traffic stop or an arrest, noting that his office has no authority to enforce federal immigration laws.
The only time that deputies learn of someone’s immigration status is when they are processed at the county’s Adult Detention Center, the sheriff said.
Jail staff will run a suspect’s name through the Immigration Alien Query database to see if that person has been flagged by ICE. If the federal agency issues a detainer for the suspect, the sheriff’s office will let ICE know when that person is scheduled for release so agents can pick them up.
The Washington Times reached out to Ms. Briskman’s office for comment.
Ms. Briskman on Monday singled out the sheriff’s office’s 287g agreement with ICE, which allows local authorities to begin processing illegal immigrants for ICE.
She said ICE took nearly 100 migrant criminal suspects into custody during the second half of 2024, and had taken nearly 70 by mid-May this year.
The Virginia county lawmaker also criticized the sheriff’s office for not being able to share timely data about illegal immigrants arrested or transferred to the Department of Homeland Security.
“The LCSO/ICE agreement irreparably harms our immigrant community’s trust in law enforcement and government,” Ms. Briskman said Monday in a statement. “We are a country of laws that affords due process and civil rights to every individual no matter their citizenship status. It is apparent that ICE is not honoring these laws or the democratic norms that make our nation the envy of the world. I call on Sheriff Chapman to discontinue his partnership with the agency.”
Citing advocate witnesses, she said ICE agents have detained 25 people at a federal immigration court in Sterling since May 22. Ms. Briskman said the immigrants had arrived at the courthouse in “good faith” to address various matters when they were approached by ICE agents.
According to WUSA-TV, that figure includes 10 people who were detained by ICE last week. The station reported that those taken into federal custody ranged in age from 18 to 41 and hailed from Haiti, Venezuela, El Salvador and Peru.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.