About 30 people gathered at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Chantilly on Sunday (May 31) to protest the expansion of immigration detentions in the U.S. and to show support for those detained inside the building.
Holding American flags and homemade signs, the group outside ICE’s Washington Field Office at 14797 Murdock Street read aloud a list of people who had died in ICE custody, then sang “No están solos” (Spanish for “they are not alone”), followed by refrains of “none of us are free until all of us are free,” and “together we will abolish ICE.”
Half of the group then walked half a mile down to the intersection of Route 50 and Stonecroft Blvd, where far more cars were passing by; the other part of the group stayed outside the facility.
“I want to show the folks who are being detained that there’s somebody who cares about what’s happening to them, and that we value them,” Elizabeth Witt, a co-organizer of the event, told FFXnow.
“For me, personally, it’s [about] this,” Witt said as she gestured toward her sign, which featured the Bible quote “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
While this was the third “Freedom Vigil” held by members of Alexandria’s Christ Church Episcopal Democracy Circle and other local advocates, some, such as Arlington resident Barbara George, were attending for the first time.
“I just vehemently oppose the narrative that’s being put out about immigrants over the last 10 years and the illegal actions that have been taken, basically physically kidnapping folks, ripping values apart,” said George. “In particular, I’m ashamed of what our country is doing to people who are trying to come here and take care of their families.”
George said that she was drawn to the event because as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras years ago, she was “treated with grace and kindness.
“Some of the poorest people on the planet would be so gracious and so hospitable and took such good care of me,” she said. “It’s shameful how we treat people who come to our country.”
The Chantilly ICE facility has been at the center of such debates. In August, advocates reported that people were being being held at the administrative field office for days at a time in “degrading” conditions, deprived of food, water, and a proper place to sleep.
Elected officials who were allowed to visit in September “after a month of attempting to gain access” reported that conditions “appear to have improved,” though immigrant rights advocates countered that ICE has been “known to deceive inspectors of the true conditions in its facilities.”
Since that time, statewide legislation designed to restrain ICE has had a mixed degree of success.
In late May, Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed into law SB 352 and HB 1482, which ban law enforcement officers from covering their faces while on duty. But she also vetoed legislation that would have prevented federal immigration agents from conducting civil arrests in some sensitive public places, such as courthouses, schools and health care facilities.
As FFXnow reported earlier this month:
The legislative actions were accompanied by an executive order directing state agencies to prohibit the federal government from accessing state property or using it as a staging site for civil immigration enforcement unless officers have a “valid warrant or order.”
The state government must also develop guidance for local prosecutors, hospitals, schools and elections workers for handling interactions with federal immigration officers. A website will be established “to help Virginians understand their rights and report alleged legally prohibited practices by federal agents.”
Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025 for a second term after campaigning on promises of mass deportations, the federal government has ramped up immigration-related detentions, arresting nearly 400,000 people nationwide through March, while chipping away at legal options for people to enter and stay in the country.
Voluntary departures have surged, driven in part by reportedly inhumane conditions in detention facilities. Though the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has denied allegations of people being denied food, medical care and other essential needs, more than 50 people have died in ICE custody since the beginning of 2025, including at least 10 individuals who died by suicide.
