Traffic hummed along Military Highway in Virginia Beach as two small children sat in the backseat of a parked car, screaming for their father. Just feet away, federal immigration agents — some masked and unidentifiable, others in Homeland Security Investigations uniforms — had taken the man into custody.

Video posted in the Facebook group “Hispanos en Norfolk – Virginia” on Nov. 1 shows the family’s car pulled to the shoulder near Indian River Road while agents mill about outside. The children are alone inside — their father has been moved to an unmarked white pickup truck. In a second video, they call out for their father.

Much about the video — in both Spanish and English — isn’t known, including the identities of the man, the children or the federal agents. What happened to the man and exactly when the video was taken also are unclear. The incident encapsulates the difficulties faced by lawyers and immigrant advocates, who often hear anecdotes suggesting the presence of increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement in Hampton Roads, but little more than that.

On the video, a bystander filming the scene confronts one of the agents.

“You don’t know what (the detained man) did,” the agent said.

“It doesn’t matter what he did,” the bystander replied. “There are kids in there.”

Another clip shows a second man, who appears to know the detainee, speaking to him through the open door of the pickup’s back seat. Moments later, he buckles the children into their seats and drives off. On the recording, he explains that the father had a removal order and that the children’s mother was staying at someone else’s house. It remains unclear whether agents planned to locate her.

According to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or Immigration and Customs Enforcement will place the children with a safe person the parent designates.

A DHS directive, issued in July, says, “In pursuing the enforcement of these laws against alien parents and legal guardians of a minor child(ren)…ICE personnel should remain cognizant of the impact enforcement actions may have on a minor child(ren).”

Alejandro Lawson, founder of the youth-led immigration justice organization Refugee & Immigrant Solidarity Coalition, called the presence of masked agents “concerning.”

Advocates and legal experts say ICE activity in Hampton Roads has been increasing in 2025 — more in the past few months.

However, there is limited data available on immigration arrests locally.

Virginia Beach immigration attorney Andy Reigel said his firm is seeing an increase in the number of calls for immigration case help and social media posts showing enforcement actions.

Patricia Bracknell, president and founder of the Chamber for Hispanic Progress, said she’s seeing an increase in calls for assistance daily.

“It’s been terrifying to see how much it’s increased,” said Bracknell. “We’re going to see that activity increase more and more.”

Anecdotally, advocates say the majority of immigration-related arrests are happening during raids and traffic stops, often while people are on their way to and from work. The fear in the Hispanic community is palpable, said Alfie Martinez-Coyle, the Pastoral Associate of Hispanic Ministry at Saint Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg.

She said people are avoiding places where federal agents have been spotted. The church’s mass is down from 500 attendees at the beginning of 2025 to just 284.

In recent months, disappearances of local workers have increased. In one instance, when a man did not return home from work, his family went looking for him, only to find his work truck on the side of the road.

He turned up in a detention facility days later.

The limited available data shows that immigration enforcement actions are increasing. In Virginia Beach, 115 people in the local jail have been released to ICE between Jan. 1 and Nov. 7. For all of 2024, that number was 37.

In Chesapeake, 71 people were in the jail on an ICE hold — or detainer — between Jan 1. and Nov. 12. In 2024, 30 people were kept on immigration holds.

Detainers can be placed on people arrested by local law enforcement during a criminal investigation. The sheriff’s office can notify ICE if it is holding someone who is undocumented, and ICE may decide to request they be held at the jail on their behalf until they can take custody.

But data on detainers is a “severe underrepresentation” of people who have been picked up by ICE locally, said Reigel. Those who are arbitrarily detained on the street and those without pending criminal cases are usually not held on an ICE detainer.

“ICE holds used to be good water marks,” said Reigel. “Now you’re seeing enforcement actions out on the street, and you don’t need an ICE hold for that.”

The Trump administration has made increased immigration enforcement a top priority. Actions have ramped up across the country, including Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, a large-scale arrest campaign between September and November.

Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander, recently told The New York Times about the agency’s tactics. He claimed the agency is operating on intelligence, but added, “If there are other individuals there, they’re going to get arrested also. If you’re an illegal alien, you’re going to get arrested.”

Lawson said he’s troubled by the way immigration enforcement has been carried out locally. He called for “compassion for people who are suffering because of (these actions).”

“Constitutional rights belong to everybody, regardless of immigration status,” Lawson said.

Staff editor Ashley Bermudez contributed to this report.

Emma Rose Brown, 757-805-2256, emma.brown@virginiamedia.com

https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/11/15/ice-arrests-increase/