02-06-2025
Virginia sheriff's stance on illegal immigration colors landscape on searches of Latino motorists
(Getty Images)
Traffic stops and searches of Latino motorists in Loudoun County have increased dramatically the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2024, sparking complaints from activists and some residents. The Sheriff's Office asserts that deputies are simply patrolling more vigorously where serious crimes, historically, have occurred in the county.
'We are not stopping vehicles nor doing searches on the basis of ethnicity,' Tom Julia, spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, said flatly, rejecting allegations of racial profiling. 'We completely disagree that it's targeting of any group.'
Julia made convincing arguments.
It's understandable that concerns have arisen, however, because of longtime Sheriff Mike Chapman's well-known, boisterous attacks against illegal immigration and its impacts nationwide. The elected Republican has frequently testified before congressional committees on the subject, often invited because of his leadership role in the National Sheriffs' Association.
That means you can't consider his law-enforcement initiatives in Loudoun in a vacuum.
'Over the past four years, the United States has seen an unmitigated flow of undocumented and criminal aliens enter this country with many localities throughout the United States encouraging their sanctuary despite minimal, if not a total lack of proper vetting,' he testified in December.
That was just a month after Donald Trump, who has demagogued the issue repeatedly – often in racial or xenophobic terms – was elected a second time to the presidency.
A new report from the Center for Migration Studies found that there were 12.2 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. in 2023, using the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data available.
About a year ago, Chapman noted hyperbolically on his LinkedIn account: 'We are all border states now, and the failure of this (Biden) Administration to slow the influx of undocumented immigrants has put all of us at risk.' He'd just testified at a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing.
This is the backdrop in which the traffic stops in Loudoun are playing out. With 443,000 people, it's one of Virginia's largest localities. The stops have gained attention following the release of department statistics to the Board of Supervisors there. Loudoun Now recently reported on the issue.
From Jan. 1-March 31, deputies stopped white motorists 3,343 times and Latino motorists 1,194 times. White residents comprise 51% of the population, and Latinos about 14%, according to census figures.
The numbers of stops by deputies were up noticeably for both races from the same period in 2024 – especially for whites. (Of course, not all motorists stopped by deputies were county residents.)
More striking, though, is the number of searches for these subgroups: Deputies searched whites 31 times in the first three months of 2025, compared to 90 for Latinos. The numbers for the same period last year were 13 and 15, respectively.
Activists and residents have decried the disproportionate number of searches affecting Latinos and questioned whether they're being singled out – possibly for undue suspicion of being undocumented immigrants.
'Even though white and Hispanic residents are getting ticketed at traffic stops at about the same rate, Hispanic residents are eight times more likely to have their vehicle searched than white residents. This is clear racial profiling,' Sarah Pace said at a recent Board of Supervisors meeting.
'When 14% of the population accounts for 55% of all traffic stop searches, this isn't about crime prevention. It's blatant targeting of an already vulnerable and hard-working community,' Heather Gottlieb, a New Virginia Majority member, said in a recent news release. The organization focuses on working-class communities of color across the state.
I interviewed Sofia Saiyed, campaign director for the group's Loudoun and western Fairfax chapter. She told me organization members say there's a significantly heavier presence of deputies in the community, moreso than before.
'We're also in an environment in which the presidential administration is making anti-immigrant statements and deportation stunts,' Saiyed said. 'The concern that we have is that Sheriff Chapman has been very public and vocal about his alignment with Trump's anti-immigration agenda.'
As several nonprofit officials pointed out, Gov. Glenn Youngkin also signed an executive order in February deputizing the Virginia State Police to help identify and arrest criminal undocumented immigrants 'who pose a risk to public safety.'
That brings me back to Julia, the Sheriff's Office spokesman.
He said deputies are stopping people for cause and there's a nexus between proactive traffic enforcement, arrests and reducing the number of crimes. Julia noted the Sterling area in eastern Loudoun County has had the highest percentage of crimes for decades. Major crimes also occur there. The Sheriff's Office, he said, is using data-driven analytics to fight the offenses.
As the department noted in a recent news release, the Eastern Loudoun Station area has 'a significantly higher Latino population than in other parts of the county.'
If you patrol heavily in areas where many crimes have been reported, you're bound to make more traffic stops and arrests.
The situation is complex. Is it profiling? Or simply smart police work? A combination?
Questions of whether the stepped-up enforcement program is targeting Latinos unfairly – alienating residents in the process – are bound to continue. Given his posture on immigration, the sheriff should've expected the heightened scrutiny and should now listen to his community's concerns.
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