CHESAPEAKE — The Chesapeake City Jail agreed in late May to become a temporary holding facility for immigration enforcement authorities. Since then, the number of people held there on immigration detainers has spiked as immigration and deportation enforcement efforts ramp up across the nation and in Virginia.
More than 160 people have been held at Chesapeake City Jail on immigration detainers since May 30, according to data provided by the sheriff’s office. That’s up from the 39 detainer holds reported by the office in mid-June.
Though the spike can be attributed to the jail serving as a holding facility, the department also said a larger number of local arrests and more aggressive immigration enforcement efforts from the federal administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are factors, too.
Virginia has also seen an uptick in ICE arrests. An analysis from WHRO’s Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism in September reported 4,264 such arrests in the first seven months of 2025, which is nearly triple the total made in all of 2024.
“As the federal government has made it a priority and committed resources to immigration initiatives, many subjects who are arrested on local charges that under previous administrations would not have a detainer request filed are now being investigated by ICE,” said Lt. Frank Eckes in an email response provided to The Virginian-Pilot from Sheriff Dave Rosado.
Chesapeake’s agreement to temporarily hold individuals with immigration detainers in the jail is outlined in a copy of the sheriff’s office’s contract with the U.S. Marshal’s Office, which details per diem reimbursement stipulations for all federal prisoners held. The document, obtained by The Pilot, offers more insight into how localities, such as Chesapeake, are working with ICE and other federal authorities in immigration enforcement.
Rosado and other staff also shared details of the partnership and the process of booking and processing individuals with immigration detainers in a tour of the Chesapeake City Jail this week.
The jail has set aside 50 of its more than 740 beds for inmates with immigration detainers, with 40 reserved for men and 10 for women. The agreement also allows the jail to be paid $52 a day for each inmate held there by federal authorities, including ICE, though it’s unclear how much in total has been reimbursed or provided for such to date. The $52 per diem rate is the same for all others booked at the jail.
Chesapeake’s work with ICE
This summer, Chesapeake was the first and only city in the region to extend the length of time a detained individual can be held beyond their scheduled release date. Most Hampton Roads cities allow up to 48 hours, but Chesapeake now allows up to 72 hours.
Immigration detainers are a key tool used by ICE to take custody of people arrested by local law enforcement. Detainers are requests to local law enforcement to hold a person in custody for up to 48 hours past their scheduled release to give federal authorities time to pick them up them for possible deportation proceedings. Detainers also include those brought to the jail from ICE to be temporarily housed.
A typical room in one of the pods at the Chesapeake City Jail where ICE detainees are kept. As seen Wednesday, December 17, 2025. (Stephen M. Katz / The Virginian-Pilot)
Rosado, whose term ends at the end of the year, amended department policy and the department’s existing contract to implement the 72-hour hold on May 30. Adding ICE to the contract allowed the department to be reimbursed.
Rosado has said the 72-hour period for detainer holds provides a logistical benefit, as it allows officials more wiggle room in being able to pick up an inmate for possible deportation and travel to the next closest holding facility in Farmville or Bowling Green. It also gives the sheriff’s office legal protections to hold the inmate beyond their release date and puts liability onto ICE, he said.
But it also means more money for the city as the jail is reimbursed, which Rosado called “fiscally responsible” since that extends to special services that may need to be provided, such as medical care.
The Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office reported 168 inmates have been booked and held at the jail with immigration detainer holds as of Dec. 15. The vast majority of those have happened since June, when the updated agreement was implemented, according to the jail’s ICE hold report provided to The Pilot.
That total includes people from other cities with immigration detainers, though it’s unclear how many of them originate from locally charged and arrested individuals versus how many are passing through as they’re transported to another facility.
Earlier this week, the sheriff’s staff reported 12 people in custody with local charges on active immigration detainer holds, and none scheduled for pickup by ICE.
The process
Individuals with detainer holds brought to the jail by federally contracted transportation officials are booked and processed similarly to locally charged and arrested individuals. As seen in a tour of the jail by The Pilot this week, all inmates are screened for criminal history, mental and physical health checks and interviews.
Then they are inspected and shower in a different area before they’re moved up a floor to the general population area on the second floor of the jail. In that area, 20 rooms containing two beds each have been reserved for the people being held on immigration detainers.
When individuals are dropped off for a temporary stay at the jail before going on to a detention facility, agents notify the sheriff’s office and coordinate a date and time. Typically two transportation employees bring detained people in a van to the city jail. They are then moved through the typical booking and intake process.
The sally port at the Chesapeake City Jail through which ICE detainees are brought. As seen Wednesday, December 17, 2025. (Stephen M. Katz / The Virginian-Pilot)
When someone is charged and arrested locally on a felony charge, the sheriff’s office is required to conduct an immigration query during the jail booking and intake process, Eckes and Rosado said during the tour Wednesday. But federal authorities ultimately determine immigration status.
If locally arrested and booked individuals are cleared for release from custody, the sheriff’s office contacts ICE five days before the scheduled release. ICE can request a 48-hour detainer hold while it determines immigration status or the agency can decide to pick up someone for potential deportation proceedings and notify the sheriff’s office via phone or email.
“Depending on the subject’s immigration status, the federal agency may wish to lodge a detainer request of varying degrees against that subject,” Eckes said in the email provided to The Pilot by Rosado. “They may wish to further investigate that subject; it may already be under immigration review, currently on an immigration bond, or pending removal processing. The subject may be under a visa, and subsequent to the disposition of the local criminal charges, that visa may be evaluated. Any of these factors will determine the type of request the federal agency follows up on.”
The process is similar when detained individuals are picked up. The sheriff’s office processes the paperwork and alerts the booking area before bringing the people being picked up back through the booking area. When transportation agents arrive — typically two at a time — staff confirm the pickup, agents sign a release, secure the individuals and leave.
Rosado and staff say there have been no more than 10 individuals with immigration detainers booked and housed at the same time. He said the process of pickup usually takes no more than 20 minutes, and pickups are sporadic and based solely on the number of detainees and length of stay. Even with the extended hold period of 72 hours, detainees have typically been at the jail for no more than 24 hours, he said.
If ICE doesn’t determine there’s a need for pickup, the sheriff’s office is legally required to adhere to the order for release.
Most of the process is conducted through a digital portal, but the sheriff’s office doesn’t always have access to all of the same information as federal agents, Eckes and Rosado told The Pilot. Data on the number of detainers in Chesapeake City Jail provided by the city are outlined in an ICE hold report that only includes booking numbers, names and booking and release dates.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/12/19/chesapeake-city-jail-immigration-detainers/
