Sanctuary Officials To Shell Out Thousands In Taxpayer Dollars To Families Of Illegal Immigrants

Officials in Arlington County, Virginia, have set aside $50,000 in taxpayer funds to pay families whose loved ones have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Last week, the Arlington County Board voted 4-0 to set aside the funds for families whose primary wage earner was taken into ICE custody, according to ARLnow.

Each family can receive up to $2,000 and will not be required to provide proof that their family member was deported, ABC7 reported. The board will also not require families to share employment records.

The vote came in response to an ICE operation that took place last month across Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland that resulted in the arrests of roughly 1,300 illegal immigrants. Nearly 400 of the detainees had either been convicted of or charged with crimes in the United States, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

“I’m very proud of us for doing this,” Arlington County Board Member Maureen Coffey said of the board’s decision to create the fund.

“This investment in our families is about the urgency we have seen in our community in the last month,” Arlington County Board Chairman Matt de Ferranti said. “And we are going to respond with care, and we are going to respond proudly. That’s what this $50,000 is toward with Thrive.”

The board has tasked Arlington Thrive, a nonprofit organization that provides financial aid to Arlington families, with distributing the funds, according to ABC7.

“We are valuing the families of those who have been displaced and removed,” de Ferranti said.

Months before approving the payments, the board raised property taxes on the average homeowner by nearly $500, according to ABC7. The average renter is also expected to see rent increases of more than $300 as a result of the tax hikes.

DHS responded to the county’s latest action in an X post Tuesday, saying that “under left-wing leadership, crime pays.”

The county board voted last year to bar the Arlington County Police Department from notifying ICE about the arrests of illegal immigrant gang members or terrorists, according to ABC7.

The board also instructed residents to call 911 if they observe ICE on the streets.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) has also instituted several anti-ICE measures, including actions barring state authorities from working with ICE.