VPM News is asking: How are federal immigration policies affecting Virginians?
Two men who were detained on Tuesday in Charlottesville are being held at the Farmville Detention Center with pending hearings — and possible deportation from the United States.
Plainclothes US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials entered the Albemarle County Courthouse on Tuesday morning. Honduran national Teodoro Dominguez-Rodriguez and Pablo Aparicio-Marcelino, a Mexican citizen, were taken into custody in separate interactions.
The Daily Progress first published a video depicting one of the detainments, with several people operating cameras in the courthouse’s lobby; VPM News later independently verified it was Dominguez-Rodriguez’s arrest by federal law enforcement.
A Farmville Detention Center employee confirmed by phone on Friday that Dominguez-Rodriguez and Aparicio-Marcelino arrived Thursday and are being held at the center. It was not immediately clear where they were held between their Tuesday arrests and their arrival in Farmville.
As previously reported, court records show the misdemeanor charge for Dominguez-Rodriguez’s Tuesday hearing was dismissed immediately prior to the recorded arrest. A court record for a separate misdemeanor has a follow-up hearing set for August 2025.
State records for Aparicio-Marcelino’s case, a pair of traffic misdemeanors, label him as “released on recognizance” with a suspended 90-day sentence — pending a set of related fines.
Confusion over how the detentions occurred sparked protests on Wednesday; Albemarle County Sheriff Chan Bryant later released a statement verifying that federal agents showed deputies “their paperwork and photographs of the individuals they were looking for” prior to the arrests. (The sheriff's office has jurisdiction over the Albemarle Courts Complex.)
VPM News reached out to Bryant’s office for further clarification and did not hear back by publication.
An ICE spokesperson told VPM News in an emailed statement on Saturday that “ICE and federal law enforcement partners coordinated a lawful arrest with the Albemarle General District Court.” While the statement did not verify either man’s identity or refer to Dominguez-Rodriguez or Aparicio-Marcelino by name, it referenced Dominguez-Rodriguez’s country of origin.
The statement also said that the US Attorney’s Office intends to prosecute two bystanders who “unsuccessfully attempted to obstruct enforcement efforts.” VPM News has been unable to independently verify the charges behind federal law enforcement’s detainment of both men, as well as pending federal charges against the bystanders.
In an emailed statement earlier this week, Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley said that he was “greatly concerned that arrests carried out in this manner could escalate into a violent confrontation, because the person being arrested or bystanders might resist what appears on its face to be an unlawful assault and abduction.”
The detention center in Prince Edward County is one of two operating in Virginia. According to the federal agency’s website, both it and a Caroline County site are used to detain "aliens who are subject to mandatory detention or those that ICE determines are a public safety or flight risk during the custody determination process."
Axios reported in February that both of Virginia’s detention centers each have just over 1,000 beds, are regional hubs for the detainment of immigrants facing deportation — and were nearing their highest capacities since 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic’s first year, VPM News reported that both facilities experienced widespread outbreaks of the virus.
Since early 2024, Farmville’s immigration detentions have been overseen by Abyon LLC. According to the Prince Edward County website, "Under the contract, Abyon will operate the facility as a subcontractor of ICE and manage all aspects of detainment, from intake to release, as defined and administrated by DHS and ICE.”
Dawnthea M. Price Lisco contributed reporting.
VPM News reached out to the following for comment: Abyon | Farmville Detention Center; Albemarle Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Hingeley; Albemarle Sheriff Chan Bryant; US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement; University of Virginia School of Law, Legal Aid Justice Center; Office of the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Office of the US Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.
VPM News Qs for law enforcement and legal experts
- What rights do detainees have?
- Do detainees have lawyers or access to lawyers?
- Do detainees have access to family members?
- Where were detainees before they were placed in Farmville? Where else can detainees be held? Only Farmville or other locations in Virginia? Out of state?
- What is Farmville’s capacity? How many are currently detained? How many can they keep at this center/ what is the plan?
- What’s next? What’s the expected timeline and where is the final location detainees will be sent? Will detainees be deported before a hearing?
- According to Albemarle County Sheriff Chan Bryant, ICE officials showed bailiffs documentation, but what about the detainees?
- In this case, the men were detained by plainclothes agents who said they were ICE but from all available information, didn’t seem to show detainees documentation verifying their identity? How can detainees be sure they’re being apprehended by a legitimate agent? In the community, there are concerns about kidnappings.
- Did ICE have the right to detain these two men? Especially considering that Teodoro Dominguez-Rodriguez’s charges were dismissed?
- Is it possible an ICE agent is contracted and not a member of the agency?
- Are the men who detained Dominguez-Rodriguez and Aparicio-Marcelino ICE agents or contracted employees?
- How much have these detentions cost?
- Has the immigration enforcement workforce grown?
