DHS Targets Hanover for ICE Facility

On 1/22/26, Hanover County officials reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contacted Hanover County about purchasing and rehabilitating a warehouse on Lakeridge Parkway (near Ashland) to convert it into a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility. Read the letter from DHS.

The Hanover County Board of Supervisors, which did not initiate the project, will discuss the matter at its 1/28 meeting at 6 PM and has thirty days to respond to DHS.

If built, the Hanover facility would be the third formal ICE detention facility in Virginia and would hold up to 1,500 people. The other two facilities are the Farmville Detention Center in Prince Edward County and the Caroline Detention Center in Caroline County. The Caroline facility has been reported to be over capacity, which would be illegal.

Why Hanover County?

According to previous reporting by the Washington Post, DHS had plans for a broader network of ICE detention centers. Twenty-three potential sites had been identified as possibilities.

Reporting from Richmond BizSense offers possible clues about Hanover specifically:

At Hanover supervisors’ Jan. 15 meeting, a county resident told the board during public comments that the Hanover ICE facility was listed on a spreadsheet posted on Reddit that was part of a recent DHS data breach. The resident added that the spreadsheet indicated the facility would have 1,500 beds and operate in connection with an ICE processing site in Stafford. The meeting was mentioned in a Times-Dispatch report Thursday.

Last year, DHS included Hanover on a list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” that “are deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws and endangering American citizens,” according to a May 30 release from the county.

Hanover County officials denied they had taken any action that would interfere with immigration enforcement.

Local impact

Three Chopt District supervisor Misty Roundtree shared that Henrico residents in her district reported ICE sightings in the area. ICE agents and vehicles have been spotted at Short Pump Town Center, J.R. Tucker High School, West Broad Street, and Parham Road. Short Pump has a large immigrant community.

If the Hanover County facility is built, it would be the closest ICE processing facility to Short Pump. It could also mean an increase of ICE activity in the Three Chopt District.

Recently, ICE activity has ramped up in multiple Central Virginia areas. Representatives such as Senator Danica Roem (D SD 30) and Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (D VA4) shared they are aware of ICE escalating its presence in Henrico, Chesterfield, Richmond, Petersburg and Manassas. Henrico Citizen previously reported that ICE is using Richmond International Airport as a deportation flight hub.

Also according to Richmond BizSense, Senator Tim Kaine released a statement about the proposed facility and called for community engagement on the issue.

“Virginians and Americans across the country want the law to be enforced in a way that actually makes our communities safer and doesn’t waste taxpayer dollars. The Administration has yet to share a shred of information about how this reported ICE facility in Ashland would further that mission,”

“There needs to be a meaningful opportunity for community engagement on this proposal. In the meantime, I will be pressing for answers, and pushing for more guardrails against this Administration’s lawlessness, including in immigration-related operations.”

DHS officials plan to visit the Lakeridge Parkway property in the near future.

According to Hanover Dems, there are two events planned in opposition to this plan:

• Indivisible Central Virginia scheduled a protest at the Caroline Detention Center, (11093 S W Lewis Memorial Drive, Bowling Green) for 2/15 from 1:30 – 3PM.
• RVA Indivisible is hosting a protest outside the Hanover Board of Supervisors Meeting on 1/28 – see details in the image below: