ICE arrests in Virginia at 6,600 and climbing, latest data shows (copy) (copy)
This September, two trucks with federal agents appeared seemingly out of nowhere in a neighborhood in Richmond’s South Side.
Their target was Silviano Mora Vera, whose family said he was helping a neighbor move boxes. His son, Guillermo, watched the arrest from a nearby bus stop. A black truck pulled up in front of his father. Two other cars appeared, and out came more agents, some wielding assault rifles, Guillermo said.
“One second, he’s just looking at his phone, the next second, he sees a bunch of people around him with guns,” Guillermo said.
ICE arrests at Chesterfield courthouse 'back to normal' after summer surge
Screaming in frustration, Guillermo filmed the men with his phone and asked them to at least identify themselves.
“What’s your name?” he shouted.
“U.S. Immigration,” replied the truck’s driver, before closing his window and taking off.
Mora Vera’s arrest was one of hundreds effectuated by federal agents in Virginia in September, one of the Trump administration’s busiest months in terms of enforcement activity. New data from the agency show that Immigration and Customs Enforcement logged at least 6,600 arrests in 2025 through the midpoint of October.
That’s an additional 2,600 since the Times-Dispatch last reported on the administration’s deportation efforts in August. The figure is already outdated since it doesn’t include some of October or all of November.
According to the administration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the arrests included members of the international gangs MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, claims that remain difficult to verify. The Trump administration has dubbed these groups as terrorists.
“Thanks to federal and state law enforcement working together, more than 6,600 arrests have been made in Virginia since February 2025, including members of MS-13, Tren de Aragua, and other transnational organized crime entities and gangs,” said Peter Finocchio, a spokesperson for the governor.
Data from ICE offers more specifics. A majority, 57%, appear to have been arrested for only civil immigration violations. Meanwhile, ICE says 26% are convicted criminals while another 17% have pending criminal charges.
Mora Vera did not fall into either category. So, what brought ICE agents to the family’s home in Oak Grove?
A South Side father
Twice in the past year, Mora Vera had interacted with the law. The first came in January after Mora Vera and a work colleague fought at a New Year’s Eve celebration. The colleague, who was also undocumented, filed an assault charge, while Mora Vera's wife and a friend filed sexual assault charges against the colleague. All the charges were set aside several months later.
Then, in April, Richmond police ticketed Mora Vera for driving without a license. Since June, immigration agents have been picking up undocumented immigrants for similar offenses at appearances in traffic court.
The family also wonders if his neighbor had some involvement in flagging Mora Vera's location to enforcement officials. An immigration judge said the only reason he’d been arrested was because he’d entered the United States illegally, Guillermo said.
Mora Vera’s wife, who asked not to be identified, said the duo crossed by foot into the United States in 2000. They did so unlawfully, envisioning that they would stay for two years before returning home. But the plan changed after the birth of their eldest son.
Mora Vera, a former mechanic in Mexico, started a business washing cars. His sons helped out when they weren’t in school. The family bought their home in Oak Grove in 2016. Things began to feel settled. His mother proudly displayed a photo of Mora Vera and Guillermo embracing former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.
Then, in the summer of 2016, Mora Vera was assaulted and robbed while walking in his neighborhood, according to his family. His nose was broken, and the attackers injured his eldest son, as well. Richmond police could not release information about the incident, citing confidentiality rules that protect victims of crime.
But the attack came with a silver lining: victims of certain crimes are eligible to apply for special visas, known as U Visas. Both he and his wife applied.
In 2023, he was given a work authorization while his visa application was processed. The federal agency in charge of processing U Visas approves only 10,000 per year, despite receiving many times that number of applications, often from survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking. Their lawyers indicated it could be years before the visa was approved, but, with luck, the approval could come soon.
It had not been processed at the time of his arrest by ICE in September.
Guillermo described his dad as a good man. One of his nicknames, in Spanish, was “Red Cross,” because of his willingness to lend a helping hand, Guillermo said.
“He’s serious, but he was also always looking to crack a joke and make everyone laugh,” Guillermo said.
The family is still hopeful that the pending application could spare him from deportation. Today, he’s incarcerated at an ICE holding facility in Farmville.
J.R. Tucker student released after two-month ICE detention
Detentions rise
Detainees arrested in the Richmond region have been held in Virginia’s two ICE detention centers for adults, one in Farmville and another in Caroline County. They’ve also been increasingly held at Riverside Regional Jail, which housed an average daily population of around 90 detainees on behalf of ICE, the data shows.
In November, 1,166 detainees were held across ICE’s facilities in the state. That’s an increase from the summer, when the figure stood at 870 detainees.
Those held in prolonged detention are more likely to not have a criminal record. At Riverside, 86% of those arrested were classified as non-criminals.
The overwhelming majority of those arrested continue to be from Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador, the data indicates. On average, the agency is making eight arrests across the commonwealth each day.
It remains to be seen how immigration enforcement will be impacted by the arrival of a new administration in Richmond.
Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger has signaled that she’d step back from some of the partnerships made between federal agencies and the Youngkin administration, which created a state task force and urged every law enforcement agency in the commonwealth to sign collaboration agreements with ICE.
Richmond lawmaker seeks ban on face coverings for ICE agents
