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Know Your Rights
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Know Your Rights: Interacting with ICE in the DMV

Make an emergency plan to protect you and your family in the event of a fire, natural disaster, or an encounter with ICE.
News & Commentary
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What Trump’s Immigration Policies Mean for Families Across the DMV

In the DMV, where daily life crosses jurisdictional boundaries, immigration enforcement functions as a regional force — and so must the response.
Campaign
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2026 General Assembly

Stay informed about significant bills in Virginia's 2026 legislative session that will impact Virginians' civil rights and liberties.
Action | Take Action
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Become a Member

We fight every day in the courts, in the legislature, and in our communities to create a Virginia for all. But we can’t do it alone.

Press Releases

Jan 22, 2026

Federal judge rules ACLU of Virginia class action lawsuit against VDOC’s use of solitary confinement can go to trial

“VDOC has held hundreds of people in agonizing solitary confinement conditions indefinitely – despite the fact that officials knew they were inflicting suffering and these conditions are unconstitutional,” said ACLU-VA Senior Supervising Attorney Vishal Agraharkar.

Jan 21, 2026

VDOC is once again illegally prolonging people’s sentences by refusing to credit their hard work in Virginia prisons

“Just because VDOC doesn’t like the law as it’s written doesn’t mean it can go rogue and make its own,” said ACLU-VA Senior Supervising Attorney Vishal Agraharkar.

Jan 18, 2026

Gov. Spanberger's executive order is the first step to make sure Virginia law enforcement is not a tool for ICE

“To make her vision into a reality, the governor must terminate the state’s existing 287g agreements and Virginia lawmakers must deliver meaningful legislation to her desk to protect Virginians,” said ACLU-VA Executive Director Mary Bauer.

Issues We're Monitoring

Criminal Legal Reform First Amendment Rights Immigrants' Rights LGBTQ+ Rights Reproductive Rights Voting Rights View All Issues

Know Your Rights: Interacting with ICE in the DMV

Make an emergency plan to protect you and your family in the event of a fire, natural disaster, or an encounter with ICE.
Explore Your Rights
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Featured Case

We are taking legal action to defend immigrants' rights, protect transgender people from discrimination, fight back against censorship efforts, and do so much more to defend civil rights and civil liberties across the Commonwealth.
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Sarmiento et al. v. Perry et al.

The ACLU of Virginia filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of four young people and a class of those in similar circumstances who Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are unlawfully holding in Virginia detention centers, flagrantly ignoring federal laws that give these young immigrants a legal right to be in the United States.