ACLU Sues ICE Over Detention of Minors Eligible for Birthright Citizenship
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia (ACLU-VA), along with co-counsels, has filed a class action lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Eastern District of Virginia. The lawsuit challenges ICE's detention of unaccompanied minors who have a legal pathway to birthright citizenship, arguing it's part of a mass deportation strategy.
Four plaintiffs, who were living in Newport News, Culpeper, and Washington, D.C., were apprehended by ICE in late August. Despite having successfully applied for or been granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, a pathway to birthright citizenship, they are currently being held at the Farmville and Caroline detention facilities in Virginia. The lawsuit argues that their detentions violate several laws, including the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, and the Fifth Amendment's due process protections.
The ACLU-VA, along with attorneys from Cruz Law, PLLC, and Patrice Kopistansky, is representing these clients. The lawsuit comes amidst a new federal policy implemented in July 2025, which treats anyone who entered the country without inspection as subject to mandatory detention, eliminating bond hearings for this population. In fiscal year 2022 alone, the Office of Refugee Resettlement released 6,214 unaccompanied minors to sponsors in Virginia. The lawsuit seeks to represent a class of potentially hundreds or thousands of similar cases.
The lawsuit, Sarmiento et al. v. Crawford et al., aims to challenge ICE's detention practices and protect the rights of unaccompanied minors with a legal pathway to birthright citizenship. The ACLU-VA and its co-counsels are advocating for these vulnerable individuals, highlighting the potential impact of this case on a broader scale.
