U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, challenges Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s claim that all 2,500 immigrants detained since March in Virginia were violent offenders, demanding proof of convictions. Meeting courthouse officials amid ongoing ICE raids, she criticized the enforcement tactics, highlighting cases of detainees taken before trial and fear spreading in immigrant communities. McClellan introduced H.R. 4703 to increase transparency in detentions and deportations impacting U.S. citizens and lawful residents. She condemned racial profiling and the dehumanization of immigrants, stressing that immigration violations are civil offenses, not crimes. McClellan linked these actions to undermining public safety and trust in the justice system.
U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, is pushing back against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s recent claims that all 2,500 immigrants detained in statewide operations since March were violent offenders, saying Monday she doesn’t believe it — and won’t — until the administration provides proof.
“Until you show me that all 2,500, all of their cases, what they were convicted of … you are innocent until proven guilty,” McClellan told The Mercury after meeting with courthouse staff, advocates and attorneys at the Chesterfield County Courthouse, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have conducted ongoing raids.
McClellan stopped short of directly accusing Youngkin of lying, but she made clear her doubts.
“I would say officials in the Trump administration are not telling the truth in 100% of the cases,” she said. “I think the governor either is not doing his due diligence to ask the right questions and is just parroting what he has been told — at best.”
McClellan’s comments came as part of a broader rebuke of current immigration enforcement tactics in Virginia — including federal-only ICE operations like the courthouse raids and the parallel efforts of Youngkin’s Virginia Homeland Security Task Force.
“I heard stories today about people who were detained when they came for their arraignment, so they haven’t been convicted and they haven’t had their trial,” she said. “I want details. And until the administration provides them, because … we know they have lied in certain instances, I won’t believe what the governor has to say.”
While the Chesterfield arrests are not part of the task force, McClellan linked them as symptoms of a state and federal immigration system that she said increasingly violates due process and fosters fear among communities of color.
Last week, the Richmond Democrat introduced legislation, H.R. 4703, that would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to track and publicly report every instance where U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents are detained or deported for immigration enforcement purposes. While the bill’s full text is not yet available, McClellan said its goal is to create transparency and prevent wrongful removals.
“We know that citizens and people lawfully present have been detained and deported, primarily because of the great reporting from the press,” she said. “But we don’t know how many, we don’t know all the circumstances, so this is part of my oversight responsibilities.”
On Monday, McClellan visited the Chesterfield courthouse at the invitation of Circuit Court Clerk Amanda Pohl, who said she was alarmed by what the courthouse staff has witnessed over the last month.
“We are not getting any of the names, we’re not getting anything like that,” Pohl said of the individuals detained inside the courthouse. “What we’re seeing at the General District Court is that people are coming in for traffic violations, for minor offenses. They’re trying to have their day in court, and ICE is taking them.”
Pohl said that at least 16 people were detained by ICE agents during a single week in June, and that federal activity at the courthouse has continued since then — though more sporadically.
“We saw somebody come in, who had a charge. His case was continued. He had no other prior convictions, and he was still taken by ICE. He didn’t even get to have his day in court, and he was still taken from his family,” she said. “From what I understand, that gentleman was deported very quickly.”
A spokesman for ICE on Monday did not respond to a request for comment about the agency’s ongoing operations in Chesterfield.
Being an undocumented immigrant is not a crime,” she said. “And the dehumanization that this administration is doing — trying to paint with a broad brush every undocumented immigrant, and U.S. citizens, that they are hardened criminals — is wrong and is un-American.
– U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond
Youngkin has repeatedly stood by the arrests carried out by ICE and those under the Homeland Security Task Force — a state initiative created earlier this year to work in coordination with federal partners, including ICE — and has insisted that all detainees are dangerous criminals.
“They should be arrested,” the governor said earlier this month, defending the task force’s mission. “These are folks that are here illegally and they’ve committed crimes.”
But McClellan said the absence of supporting data makes such blanket characterizations irresponsible and dangerous.
“Nobody knows the details around it,” she said. “That is creating fear that we have seen among communities of color, particularly in the Spanish-speaking community or anybody who’s brown.”
Virginia Attorney General Miyares, who has championed the task force and joined Youngkin in calling for tougher immigration enforcement, last week declined to provide evidence backing up the administration’s “violent offender” claims when asked by The Mercury.
McClellan said what’s happening in Chesterfield and across the state goes far beyond any single program — and is undermining trust in law enforcement and the courts.
“We’re seeing people who aren’t showing up to get marriage licenses, who aren’t showing up to report crimes, to press charges, to testify, because they’re afraid, ‘Am I going to be disappeared even though I’ve done nothing wrong?’” she said. “It is not making our communities safe. It’s having the opposite effect.”
McClellan said she’s heard from translators who are now afraid to appear in court, and domestic violence advocates who say victims are staying silent out of fear.
“It’s hard enough to get someone to step forward who has been domestically or sexually abused,” she said. “I’m hearing instances of all of that in the Richmond region, and it is concerning.”
McClellan also raised alarm over ICE agents reportedly wearing face coverings and refusing to identify themselves.
“All law enforcement agents, including immigration agents, need to be able to show their face and their badge or their identification,” she said. “If you can’t see their face, you don’t have their identification, you can’t hold them accountable, and that person cannot enforce their own civil rights. And that is dangerous.”
While the Chesterfield raids are not tied to Youngkin’s task force, McClellan said the impact is the same — a culture of fear driven by racial profiling and mass enforcement, not public safety.
“There are people who have been in this country, in some cases for decades, who may have been lawfully present when they first got here, or who may be on a path to citizenship,” she said. “There are refugees from Afghanistan who worked with the U.S. government. There are many reasons why someone may lack documentation today. That doesn’t make them criminals.”
McClellan emphasized that immigration violations are civil offenses — not crimes — and said conflating them with criminal law is misleading.
“Being an undocumented immigrant is not a crime,” she said. “And the dehumanization that this administration is doing — trying to paint with a broad brush every undocumented immigrant, and U.S. citizens, that they are hardened criminals — is wrong and is un-American.”
Recent analysis by Stateline adds further context to McClellan’s concerns: Fewer than half of the nearly 112,000 ICE arrests made nationwide between Jan. 20 and late June were of convicted criminals — just 40 % — far lower than the 53% rate during the same period under the Biden administration.
The share of those arrested with violent crime convictions shrank from 10% to 7%, while arrests tied to drug convictions fell from 9% to 5%.
At the same time, the number of detainees without any criminal record nearly tripled, rising from roughly 47% to 60% of ICE arrests, most commonly for minor traffic or immigration violations. McClellan’s demands for data and due process protections align with these national trends, as critics argue the enforcement push increasingly sweeps up individuals who lack serious criminal histories.
Pohl said she invited several local officials, nonprofit leaders and attorneys to Monday’s meeting, including Sheriff Karl Leonard, who runs the Chesterfield County jail. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get a response,” she said. “But I’m sure he has other obligations.”
Pohl also emphasized that her office does not coordinate with ICE or the Sheriff’s department and is not participating in enforcement. “Sheriff Leonard and I do not collaborate around this issue … but we have made it very clear: We’re not assisting ICE,” she said.
Leonard also did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
For McClellan, the current moment echoes dark chapters of American history.
“This is very reminiscent, to me, of the backlash to Reconstruction, when Confederate iconography was placed at courthouses in an effort to intimidate certain communities,” she said. “That intimidation is happening here too, to brown people. It is wrong. It is very reminiscent of what we saw in Nazi Germany.”
As Virginia’s first Black congresswoman and a longtime civil rights attorney, McClellan said her concerns are rooted in protecting the constitutional rights of all residents.
“I think there are ways that we can invest in processing immigration cases in a much better way,” she said. “But I think the way not to do it is to dehumanize people. And what the Trump administration is doing is dehumanizing the immigrant community, whether they are citizens or not, including children. And that is wrong.”
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Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Left-Leaning
This content presents a perspective critical of conservative immigration enforcement policies, emphasizing concerns about due process, transparency, and the impact on immigrant communities. It highlights Democratic Representative Jennifer McClellan’s opposition to Governor Youngkin’s and the Trump administration’s immigration tactics, portraying them as overly harsh and potentially misleading. The framing and choice of sources suggest a left-leaning viewpoint focused on immigrant rights and civil liberties, while providing limited representation of the opposing conservative stance beyond basic statements of support for enforcement.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Esther Wickham | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-08-25 18:15:00
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found George Mason University (GMU) violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies favoring race in hiring and promotions. OCR’s probe, prompted by faculty complaints, concluded GMU’s leadership under President Gregory Washington promoted discriminatory practices. OCR proposed a Resolution Agreement requiring GMU to commit publicly to nondiscrimination and a personal apology from Washington. The GMU Board of Visitors is reviewing the findings, but Washington’s attorney rejected OCR’s conclusions, citing flawed investigation methods and denying discrimination. GMU must comply by September 1.
(The Center Square) — The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced George Mason University violated federal law by hiring and promoting staff based on race and other characteristics.
In July, OCR launched an investigation into GMU due to multiple complaints filed by professors alleging that university leadership had adopted unlawful diversity, equity and inclusion policies from 2020 that give preferential treatment to prospective and current faculty, the department said in a press release.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in education programs and activities receiving federal funding. Institutions that are found in violation of Title VI can lose federal funds.”
OCR notified GMU President Gregory Washington that under his leadership, the Fairfax, Virginia-based university violated Title VI by supporting DEI practices and policies.
“In 2020, University President Gregory Washington called for expunging the so-called ‘racist vestiges’ from GMU’s campus. Without a hint of self-awareness, President Washington then waged a university-wide campaign to implement unlawful DEI policies that intentionally discriminate on the basis of race,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. “Despite this unfortunate chapter in Mason’s history, the University now has the opportunity to come into compliance with federal civil rights laws by entering into a Resolution Agreement with the Office for Civil Rights.”
OCR has issued a proposed Resolution Agreement to GMU to resolve the civil rights laws violations.
The department’s agreement requires GMU to publicly commit to nondiscrimination in hiring and promotion, including a personal apology from the president for promoting unlawful discriminatory practices.
The school’s Board of Visitors said Friday it was reviewing the steps outlined in the resolution and will “continue to respond fully and cooperatively to all inquiries from the Department of Education, the Department of Justice and the U.S. House of Representatives and evaluate the evidence that comes to light,” the board said in a statement on Friday. “Our sole focus is our fiduciary duty to serve the best interests of the University and the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
But on Monday, Washington rejected the Department of Education’s demands.
In a 10-page letter to GMU’s board on Monday, Washington’s attorney, Douglas Gansler, alleged that OCR cut corners and only interviewed two university deans, Inside Higher Ed reports.
“To be clear, per OCR’s own findings, no job applicant has been discriminated against by GMU, nor has OCR attempted to name someone who has been discriminated against by GMU in any context. Therefore, it is a legal fiction for OCR to even assert or claim that there has been a Title VI or Title IX violation here,” Gansler wrote.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
The article primarily reports on the findings and actions of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights regarding George Mason University’s alleged violations of federal law related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. While it includes statements from both the OCR and the university’s leadership, the language used—such as quoting the OCR’s strong criticism of GMU’s DEI efforts and highlighting the university president’s rejection of the findings—frames DEI policies in a negative light. This framing, along with the focus on alleged unlawful discrimination against non-minority groups, aligns with a center-right perspective that is often critical of DEI initiatives. The article does not merely neutrally report the facts but subtly emphasizes the controversy around DEI, suggesting a center-right ideological stance rather than a purely neutral or balanced report.
www.youtube.com – NBC4 Washington – 2025-08-25 09:28:12
SUMMARY: As summer ends, students and teachers at Raymond Elementary in D.C. prepare excitedly for the new school year. The school boasts a brand-new playground and courtyard, with dedicated staff like Miss Tracee Robinson, a second-grade teacher known for her “Not Like Us” rap parody. Teacher Alexandria Henderson has a DonorsChoose wishlist totaling over $1,100, including carpets, headphones, and snacks. Thanks to Pepco’s $1,100 donation, her wishlist is fully funded. Principal Miss Hubbard and the community express gratitude as the school gears up for Monday’s first day, celebrating support from NBC4, Telemundo 44, and corporate partners.
News4’s Molette Green helps get Raymond Elementary hyped for school with a longtime teacher’s rap and a big donation for supplies.
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NBC4 Washington / WRC-TV is the No. 1 broadcast television station and the home of the most-watched local news in Washington, D.C. The station leads the market in providing timely and breaking news and information in text, video and graphics across more than 15 platforms including NBCWashington.com, the NBC4 app, NBC4 streaming news channel, newsletters, and social media.
virginiamercury.com – Charlotte Rene Woods, Nathaniel Cline – 2025-08-25 04:29:00
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ordered a state police investigation into allegations from a conservative blog that Fairfax County Public Schools helped underage girls obtain abortions in 2021 without parental consent, potentially violating state law. The claims have become a key Republican talking point ahead of elections, with GOP gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears emphasizing parental rights. The investigation’s outcome remains uncertain and may not conclude before Election Day. Fairfax schools and officials have pledged cooperation but cannot comment further. The controversy echoes past political battles over parental rights in education and intersects with ongoing efforts to enshrine reproductive rights in Virginia’s constitution.
by Charlotte Rene Woods and Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury August 25, 2025
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ordered state police to investigate explosive allegations from a conservative blog that Fairfax County Public Schools officials helped multiple underage girls obtain abortions in 2021 — a probe whose findings may not surface before Election Day but could still sway voters in the court of public opinion.
Virginia law requires minors to obtain either parental consent or a successful court petition to undergo the procedure. Such records are also exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Mercury asked the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court whether any petitions were filed at all in 2021 and how many have been filed in subsequent years, which they did not provide.
Still, the possibility that a public school broke state law and bypassed parents’ consent rights is quickly becoming a political talking point for Republican candidates this year.
‘Gift that keeps on giving’
Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who is running for governor, speaks to a crowd at an American Legion office in Chesterfield County on Aug. 14, 2025. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
Against the backdrop of an ongoing effort to enshrine reproductive rights into Virginia’s constitution, Republican gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears has seized on the allegations.
At a recent campaign event in Chesterfield County, she welcomed the story’s circulation in the news cycle.
“I don’t know if you also saw what’s happening in Northern Virginia — it’s just a gift that keeps on giving,” Earle-Sears said as the crowd laughed.
It cheered after she added: “Parents. Still. Matter.”
Political analyst Bob Holsworth said the controversy echoes of Youngkin’s successful 2021 campaign, when allegations of a sexual assault in a Loudoun County school bathroom sparked national furor over transgender students’ use of restrooms.
Investigations and legal proceedings extended well beyond the campaign, but by then “Parents for Youngkin” signs and “parents matter” chants had become staples of his rallies. Youngkin went on to win the governorship, and Republicans flipped the House of Delegates for a term.
“Interestingly, the target audience is not voters in Fairfax and Loudoun,” Holsworth said of the Democratic strongholds, “but Republicans elsewhere in the commonwealth.”
The allegations first surfaced in WC Dispatch, an Ohio-based conservative blog run by independent investigative journalist Walter Curt Jr. His father, Walter Curt Sr., is a Youngkin appointee to the Virginia State Council of Higher Education and has donated thousands of dollars to both Youngkin and Earle-Sears. Curt Jr. told Virginia Scope that his familiar ties don’t affect his reporting.
Holsworth suggested that GOP campaigns are aiming to “get these issues aired on Fox News so they can deliver a message across Virginia in a way that Democrats can’t.”
That’s because the claim itself — whether ultimately proven or false — is already enough to stoke concerns among some voters about public schools encroaching on parental rights. Defending parental oversight in K-12 education been a consistent Republican theme in Virginia politics.
If the allegation proves true, Earle-Sears has vowed accountability.
“Your underage daughter can’t get an aspirin without your permission,” she wrote on X on Aug. 19. “Yet a Virginia school may have taken a young girl for an abortion, in secret, using your tax dollars. If true, it’s monstrous, and there will be consequences.”
The legal wait-and-see
Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico, hold a “Parents Matter” discussion at a Henrico County elementary school. (Graham Moomaw/Virginia Mercury)
Pending the outcome of the state police investigation, any responsibility to prosecute would fall to Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who has declined to comment.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, noted that the timeline for an investigation is uncertain. While the number of people involved doesn’t appear large he said, the allegation dates back four years —a factor that could complicate evidence gathering and examination.
Tobias added that Republicans could “make a lot of political hay of it” heading into the elections, especially since Fairfax’s commonwealth’s attorney has been a frequent target of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.
Miyares, who is up for reelection this year, has long pushed for changes in state law that would allow the state to intervene in local prosecutions and has repeatedly attacked Descano as being too lenient.
A potential prosecution arising from the Fairfax abortion allegation could even spill into the next gubernatorial term.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger is also watching closely. Her campaign said in an email to The Mercury that she “will be monitoring the status of the Virginia State Police’s investigation and will support appropriate action to uphold Virginia law.”
The campaign also highlighted Spanberger’s perspective as a mother of three young girls who attend public school, adding: “She believes that decisions about a child’s health and safety should always be made between them and their parents.”
Fairfax vs. everyone else
Beyond the locality’s prosecutor, Fairfax County Public Schools has become a lightning rod for criticism from parents as well as state and federal leaders.
Among the most polarizing decisions: overhauling admissions at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology to promote greater diversity, and resisting statewide transgender policies that would have required schools to out transgender students or restrict pronoun use.
The division is also arranging a security detail for Superintendent Michelle Reid.
After the abortion allegations surfaced, Reid wrote to the school community that the conduct described “would be unacceptable” in the district.
“I want to stress that at no time would the situation as described in these allegations be acceptable in Fairfax County Public Schools,” Reid said.
The school district has also stated that it will “fully cooperate” with the investigation but cannot comment further while it is ongoing.
Reproductive laws in campaigns
Reproductive-rights supporters watch as lawmakers debate a proposed constitutional amendment to protect abortion access on Jan. 21, 2025. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
Beyond Earle-Sears’ bid for governor and the lieutenant governor and attorney general races, all 100 House of Delegates seats are up for election this year.
Looming over those contests is an ongoing effort to enshrine reproductive rights — including abortion — into the state’s constitution. The measure must pass the legislature again next year before appearing on a statewide ballot for voter approval or rejection.
While every Republican in the General Assembly voted against the proposal this year, they first attempted to add language reflecting existing state law on minors’ access to abortion. Democrats rejected that effort, pointing out that a U.S. Supreme Court case also affirms parental consent under the 14th Amendment.
Even so, the possibility that someone may have broken the law in Fairfax is “alarming,” said Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, who is carrying the Senate version of the reproductive rights amendment.
“We should all be deeply concerned anytime anyone says they have been forced, misled or coerced into life-changing decisions about their reproductive health,” she said.
While Boysko did not specifically address the amendment in her comments, she added that she is confident the investigation will “shed light on the facts of the case.”
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Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
The content presents a detailed account of a politically charged issue involving abortion rights and parental consent in Virginia, highlighting perspectives primarily from Republican figures and conservative sources while also including responses from Democrats. The focus on Republican strategies, conservative media, and parental rights themes, alongside balanced reporting on Democratic reactions and legal context, suggests a center-right leaning. The article does not overtly endorse one side but emphasizes Republican political messaging and concerns, reflecting a moderate conservative viewpoint.
