From Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA10)’s office:
Congressman Suhas Subramanyam Visits ICE Detention Facility in Bowling Green, Virginia to Conduct Oversight and Introduces WATCH ICE Act to Bring Transparency to Immigration Enforcement and Hold Trump Administration Accountable
Washington, D.C. –This week, following an oversight visit to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Caroline Detention Facility in Bowling Green, Virginia, Congressman Suhas Subramanyam introduced the Watching Arrest and Transfer Criminal Histories in ICE (WATCH ICE) Act. The bill would increase transparency and accountability for ICE by requiring the agency to publicly report on its enforcement actions, including arrests, detentions, and deportations.
This legislation comes in response to data showing that ICE is increasingly targeting non-criminal individuals, families, law-abiding immigrants in courthouses, rather than focusing on violent criminals as pledged by President Trump and his administration. Of those held in the Caroline Detention Facility, 78% of the average daily population have no criminal convictions. The facility is at 80% capacity, the highest recorded in five years.
“My visit to Caroline Detention Facility was to conduct constitutional oversight of the facility. President Trump ran on prioritizing getting violent criminals off our streets, yet what we have seen has been the intimidation of law-abiding immigrants, some of whom have been here legally for decades,” said Congressman Subramanyam. “My WATCH ICE Act will bring accountability and clarity by demanding that ICE report on who exactly they are arresting and deporting.”
“I also want to ensure that we protect the rights and civil liberties of all Americans, which is why I also championed legislation to require ICE agents to wear identification and be unmasked, particularly when apprehending individuals,” Subramanyam said. “Many lawful permanent residents and citizens have reached out to me with deep concerns about these practices, and they deserve to feel safe.”
Despite the Trump administration’s claims of targeting violent non-citizen criminals, the data reveals a starkly different reality. According to federal statistics, less than half of the people held in detention by ICE as recently as June do not have a criminal record. Across the country, arrests of non-criminal individuals have surged. In Virginia, over 2,500 immigrants have been arrested by ICE and partnering local and state law enforcement agencies. However, 60% of those arrests have been of individuals with no prior criminal record.
ICE’s enforcement actions at courthouses across the country, including in Sterling and Manassas in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, are particularly concerning. By arresting individuals attending hearings and following legal requirements, ICE is forcing law-abiding immigrants to make an impossible choice: appear in court at the risk of being detained or deported, or skip their hearings and abandon their legal bid to remain in the United States. These opaque and punitive measures do not enhance public safety; rather, they target immigrants who are following our laws and attempting to achieve legal status “in the right way” merely to inflate this administration’s immigration enforcement numbers and score political points.
The WATCH ICE Act would require ICE to publicly release quarterly reports detailing:
- The total number of individuals arrested, detained and held in custody, and deported in the previous quarter.
- The number of those individuals who have a criminal conviction under state or federal law and what kind of threat they may pose.
This reporting will ensure that the agency’s actions are aligned with its stated mission of prioritizing public safety.
