RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The number of people held within Virginia’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities since President Donald Trump’s inauguration continues to break records, with one facility close to hitting capacity.
There are two formal ICE detention centers in Virginia: the Caroline Detention Center in Caroline County and the Farmville Detention Center in Prince Edward County.
On Jan. 21 — the day after Trump took office for his second term — the average daily population of detainees at the Farmville Detention Center was 440, according to data compiled by TRAC Immigration. The Caroline Detention Center reported an average of 268 detainees on that same date.
As of March 17, those averages increased to 488 and 284, respectively. This was the highest average daily population of detainees either facility had seen since 2020.
The most recent data from TRAC Immigration shows that this trend has continued. As of Sept. 15, there are an average of 589 detainees at the Farmville Detention Center on a given day and 303 at the Caroline Detention Center.
This means that, on average, there are 101 more detainees at the Farmville Detention Center on a daily basis in September than there were just six months earlier.
Notably, the maximum capacity for the Caroline Detention Center is 336, meaning its average daily population is only a few dozen detainees away from hitting said maximum. The maximum capacity for the Farmville Detention Center is 732.
Per ICE’s own data on these detainee populations, of those held at both the Caroline and Farmville detention centers, more than half are not considered criminals. Additionally, nearly all of these detainees have no “ICE Threat Level” — meaning they have no criminal history.
| Facility Name | Total Detainees | Criminal Detainees | Non-Criminal Detainees | Detainees with any ICE Threat Level | Detainees with no ICE Threat Level |
| Farmville Detention Center | 589 | 286 (49%) | 303 (51%) | 87 (15%) | 502 (85%) |
| Caroline Detention Center | 303 | 137 (45%) | 169 (55%) | 56 (18%) | 247 (82%) |
There are also three jails on TRAC Immigration’s list, which report a combined daily average of nine detainees as of Sept. 15 — one each at Rockingham County Jail and Western Virginia Regional Jail, and seven at Riverside Regional Jail in Prince George County.
8News previously reported that Riverside entered into an agreement with ICE to house its detainees in May.
To learn more about immigration enforcement in Central Virginia, click here.
