After multiple sightings of ICE in West Virginia over the last few days, Gov. Patrick Morrisey on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 said that state jails and prisons are detaining 58 people suspected of immigration violations. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement photo)
West Virginia jails and prisons are detaining 58 people suspected of immigration violations, according to Gov. Patrick Morrisey.
The detainments are part of President Donald Trump’s mass immigration crackdown.
“I will say this, I believe that what President Trump has done is absolutely correct,” said Morrisey, a Republican and staunch supporter of Trump. “I’ve always talked about the problems of immigration and how it affects West Virginia.”
A new Department of Homeland Security memo authorized Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to search schools, ending a longstanding policy to avoid immigration-related arrests at schools and churches. The change has prompted West Virginia schools to review immigration policies as children in the U.S. have a right to public education regardless of immigration status.
“If a situation arises where an undocumented student, who is not otherwise causing a safety concern, becomes the target of ICE based on their immigration status alone, it is still your job to protect that student’s rights for as long as you can,” Kanawha County Schools Superintendent Tom Williams said in a memo to staff.
Morrisey said in a statement that the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Monday was detaining 53 “suspected illegal immigrant criminals” in its facilities as directed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigations while their immigration status is determined. The number increased to 58 by Tuesday afternoon, he said.
Eli Baumwell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, said in a statement Tuesday that the legal advocacy organization is paying attention to the situation.
“Due process lies at the very heart of our system of checks and balances,” Baumwell said. “To arrest first and ask questions later raises serious constitutional concerns. We are monitoring this situation closely, and if people’s rights have been violated we will not hesitate to intervene.”
Morrisey said a number of those detained face criminal charges that resulted in them being in the state’s jail and prison system, and 13 people may be charged as a result of violations of immigration law.
“To be clear, our numbers may be lower than others in terms of the illegal immigrants compared to other states, but I’ve repeatedly, for many years, talked about the impact of having illegal immigrants and then bringing deadly fentanyl into the state that’s flooding in from Mexico,” Morrisey said.
Education leaders share immigration guidance
As the Trump administration has authorized ICE to enter schools, some school districts in the U.S. have taken proactive steps with policies that limited their cooperation with ICE officials.
Morrisey did not respond to a question via email about how he would direct schools to engage with immigration officials.
West Virginia schools Superintendent Michele Blatt declined to comment about ICE accessing public schools, but a department spokesperson said they’d provided guidance to local schools on immigration law issues.
The guidance suggested that school districts engage in planning for how to address situations in which ICE seeks to conduct enforcement actions on school premises. It also said ICE agents must have proper authority, including a warrant issued by a federal court judge, to enter a school. Federal rules on student privacy severely limit schools’ abilities to share a child’s personal information.
The memo was “not intended to be a substitute for legal advice from a school district’s legal counsel, and each superintendent should work with their legal counsel to develop plans,” West Virginia Department Education Communications Director Christy Day said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Kanawha County Schools, the state’s largest school district, said that while schools are no longer considered off-limits, ICE must enter a school lawfully.
“They must have a valid federal warrant that outlines what they are doing at the school, what they are requesting, etc.,” said KCS Communications Director Chris Williams.
KCS told its educators that the district’s obligation was to provide a safe environment for students, “and educating undocumented students, who we are legally required to educate, is not a safety concern in and of itself.”
“Please remember, you do not know the immigration status of every student in your building or that of their parents or guardians, so be mindful of that when providing information that may seem innocuous based on preconceived notions of what an immigrant here illegally may look or sound like,” Tom Williams wrote in a guidance for district schools.
Other school districts contacted for this story referred West Virginia Watch to the WVDE guidance on immigration.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates 733,000 school-aged children live in the U.S. without legal status.
Morrisey said more information about immigration would be released Thursday.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.