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If ICE takes the breadwinner, Arlington taxpayers could pick up $2,000 of the tab

September 9, 2026 | | Print Article

Sanctuary politicians in Arlington have decided to start paying out $2,000 in taxpayer funds to illegal aliens detained by federal immigration authorities.

On Sept. 2, the Arlington County Board in Virginia voted to set aside $50,000 for grants to families “whose primary wage earner has been detained by immigration enforcement,” according to ARLnow.

“We stand with our immigrant families, and we will not stop doing so,” board chair Matt de Ferranti, a proud sanctuary politician, said. “We are valuing the families of those that have been displaced and removed.”

The money will reportedly be funneled through Arlington Thrive, a local non-profit that delivers same-day emergency financial assistance to families.

“The grant agreement allows for Arlington Thrive to provide funding in the form of checks or debit cards to meet individual circumstances of individual families,” ARLnow noted. “If neither format works well, the organization and county will work with the families on an alternate option.”

The Arlington County Board was inspired to take this action after a recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation led to the arrest of 1,300 illegal aliens in the wider D.C. area.

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Ferranti stressed to ARLnow that he and other leaders in Arlington “will do everything we can within the law to provide support and to protect the safety of all our residents, documented and undocumented.”

This latest slap in the face from Arlington leaders comes months after the House Judiciary Committee penned a letter to local leaders slamming them over their policies restricting cooperation between local police and ICE.

The letter was addressed to the Arlington County Police Department, Arlington County Sheriff’s Office, and Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

“The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of state and local jurisdictions that endanger American communities through their refusal to cooperate with federal immigration officials and their prioritization of illegal and criminal aliens over American citizens,” the letters read.

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“We write to request information about your office’s sanctuary policies, which ultimately endanger the communities you serve,” they continued.

Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti didn’t appreciate the letters.

“Chairman Jordan and House Republicans are once again abusing congressional power to target a Democratic official simply because they disagree with her,” her attorney, Abbe Lowell, told ARLnow.

Lowell even trotted out the desperate Epstein card.

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“It’s a politically motivated sideshow to distract people from this Committee’s failure to enforce the law in seeking full disclosure of the Epstein files and Republicans wasting time on Donald Trump’s priorities instead of those actually important to Americans like skyrocketing costs for housing and other living expenses, out-of-control gas prices, and a government that has found a way to make health care even harder to access,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security personally responded on Tuesday to the news that Arlington plans to give out $2,000 to detained illegal alien families.

Look:

See more responses to the city’s wackadoodle plans below:

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Vivek Saxena
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