McClellan Questions Homeland Security on Chesterfield ICE Raids and Arrests; Scott Offers Bills on Out of Control Childcare Costs and Protecting Workers from the Heat
➤ There are 47 days until Labor Day, Sept. 1, 2025
➤ There are 112 days until the November 4, 2025 general election in Virginia
➤ There are 487 days until the November 3, 2026 midterm elections
➤ There are 1,211 days until November 7, 2028
Black Virginia News is giving you vital news and information on the Black community in Virginia. We give you facts others ignore. Thank you to all of our subscribers! Please support unbossed indy news in Virginia. Thank you!
Follow us on 🦋 BlueSky | Facebook | Contact: BlackVirginiaNews@gmail.com.
🏛️ Trump Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to the Administration
🗃 Executive Order Tracker | Federal Register List of Executive Orders
🎯 Statutory whistleblower protections: Whistleblower
NEW: EPISODE 54 - LISTEN! 🎙️ THE BLACK VIRGINIA NEWS podcast on Trump’s budget cuts to health care and the impact on rural hospitals.
Rep. Jennifer McClellan Wants Answers on Chesterfield ICE Raids
U.S. CAPITOL — Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (D-VA) is contacting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons with concerns regarding apparent ICE arrests at the Chesterfield County Courthouse. The arrests include ten people who appeared in court voluntarily for civil infractions.
President Trump and Republicans in Congress have now allocated more money for ICE detention than the budget of the U.S. Marines. The following allocations were in President Trump’s budget bill (H.R. 1) as passed by the U.S. House on July 3:
$46.5 billion: to complete construction of the border wall.
$7.8 billion: for CBP to hire and retain 3,000 new Border Patrol agents, vehicles, and infrastructure.
$5 billion: for updating and constructing CBP facilities and checkpoints.
$450 million: for Operation Stonegarden, which supports state and local law enforcement at the border.
$14 billion: in state grants to support border-related immigration enforcement
An outstanding mystery remains regarding ICE arrests, detentions and deportations: Are those doing the detaining sworn law enforcement officers? Masked individuals with no name tags and, in some cases, presenting no warrants, have apprehended individuals and detained them.
McClellan is asking the Department of Homeland Security the questions below:
What is the review process conducted to determine which individuals' presence at a municipal courthouse in compliance with court-mandated orders or summons rises to the level of “reasonable suspicion” that they are in the country illegally and pose a public safety or national security threat?
Both citizens and non-citizens present in the United States have a constitutional right to due process. Can you provide assurances that each individual questioned or detained was granted these rights?
How many individuals detained by ICE at the Chesterfield County Courthouse are still in DHS custody, where have they been moved, and is DHS taking steps to allow contact with legal representation?
Did ICE take the appropriate steps to ensure any dependents of those who were detained by ICE were in the safe custody of family members or the appropriate authorities?
There have been disturbing instances of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents detained by ICE for extended periods of time in similar immigration operations. Has ICE sufficiently determined that no individuals with lawful permanent status or citizenship were detained? Have all of these individuals been released from ICE custody?
High Childcare Costs:
U.S. CAPITOL — Though the Republicans are likely to be universally against it, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced The Child Care for Working Families Act on July 15. The legislation aims to lower the cost of childcare for parents. The average cost of child care in the U.S. a year is close to $14,000 but can be as high as $20,000 a year depending on location and other factors. The legislation would subsidize 90% of childcare costs.
Above: Rep. Scott runs down what Democrats have done legislatively after a reporter’s question on July 15, 2025 at then U.S. Capitol.
“The child care crisis cannot be solved without sustained public funding. The Child Care for Working Families Act makes the investments we need to turn our child care system around and meet the needs of children, parents, and child care workers,” said Rep. Scott in a July 15 statement on the bill. Though Republicans would likely argue that the bill would cost too much the GOP just voted to add $3.5 trillion to the debt by voting favor of HR. 1, President Trump’s signature budget bill. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) is also a sponsor of the legislation.
As Congress enters the last two weeks of session before the August recess, the GOP is focused on Bitcoin regulations and finalizing billions in spending cuts before leaving town. Democrats are focused on worker protections and communications strategy as they meet to discuss how better to defend their work against a flurry or disinformation and lying.
This morning, New York City candidate for Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with a number of House Democrats on communications strategy.
Below: Rep. Scott at a press conference today (July 16, 2025) at the U.S. Capitol announcing legislation to protect workers from heat related issues.
3 Virginia Must Reads
LISTEN! 🎙️ THE VIRGINIA PRESS ROOM podcast with Virginia Press Room with host Michael Pope, Lauren Burke of the Black Virginia News, Chris Saxman of The VIP Podcast and Rich Meagher of RVA's Got Issues.
⭆ SUBSCRIBE TO BLACK VIRGINIA NEWS. “One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap.” —Ida Wells. 👨🏽💻 Send press releases, submissions, tips, pitches, comments and corrections to BlackVirginiaNews@gmail.com.