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![handle is hein.sag/sagva0131 and id is 1 raw text is:
COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Office of the Attorney General
Mark R, Herring 900 East Main Street
Attorney General 5Richmond, Virginia 23219
804-786-2071
FAX 804-786-1991
Virginia Relay Services
800-828-1120
The Honorable Ken Stolle 7-1-1
Sheriff, City of Virginia Beach
Post Office Box 6098
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23456-9073
Dear Sheriff Stolle:
I am responding to your request for an official advisory Opinion in accordance with § 2.2-205 of
the Code of Virginia.
Issues Presented
You seek guidance regarding requests from the federal Department of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) that a local or regional law enforcement agency continue to detain otherwise
releasable prisoners because of the person's immigration status. These requests are commonly known as
ICE detainers. Specifically, you ask whether the local agency is required to honor an ICE detainer, has
discretion to honor it or not, or alternatively, whether the agency is legally obligated to release the prisoner
despite receipt of the detainer. You make these inquiries with respect to both adult and juvenile detainees.
Response
It is my opinion that an ICE detainer is merely a request. It does not create for a law enforcement
agency either an obligation or legal authority to maintain custody of a prisoner who is otherwise eligible for
immediate release from local or state custody. For that reason, an adult inmate or a juvenile inmate with a
fixed release date should be released from custody on that date notwithstanding the agency's receipt of an
ICE detainer. If a juvenile is being held pursuant to an indeterminate commitment, the Department of
Juvenile Justice (DJJ) may exercise its discretion to hold the juvenile until ICE officials assume custody,
provided DJJ does not hold the juvenile longer than thirty-six continuous months or past his twenty-first
birthday.
Applicable Law and Discussion
As governed by federal regulation 8 C.F.R § 287.7, an ICE detainer is a notice issued by an
authorized immigration officer that serves to advise another law enforcement agency that the Department
[the Department of Homeland Security, hereinafter DHS] seeks custody of an alien presently in the
custody of that agency, for the purpose of arresting and removing the alien.' The detainer operates as a
request that such agency advise [DHS], prior to release of the alien, in order for [DHS] to arrange to
assume custody, in situations when gaining immediate physical custody is either impracticable or
'8 C.F.R. § 287.7(a).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagva0131&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)