Records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request suggest that police from the small Virginia town of Gordonsville — likely including Police Chief Chris Votaw himself — took part in the June 23 immigration traffic operation in Ruckersville in which Greene County deputies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained 49 people, Charlottesville Tomorrow reported.
Source: Charlottesville Tomorrow
Timesheets in the FOIA release list nearly 50 hours spent by Gordonsville officers on ICE task-force assignments with the Greene County Sheriff's Office between June and September. Two Gordonsville officers spent a combined 17 hours on an assignment on June 23, between roughly 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. — the same window as the Ruckersville operation, and no other major ICE operation was reported in Virginia that day. ICE payroll documents list one of the town's two credentialed 287(g) officers at a salary of $93,784, which the outlet reported is exactly Votaw's salary; Votaw also serves as deputy town manager.
The June 23 operation is under investigation by the office of Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones over allegations of violations of state law and the Constitution, and residents have raised racial-profiling concerns about how drivers were chosen for stops. In its own data investigation, C-VILLE Weekly reported that ICE said 49 people were detained that day, and that a number of traffic stops from June 23 were missing from the stop data the sheriff's office is legally required to report.
Source: C-VILLE Weekly
Before this disclosure, Gordonsville's participation in another county's operation had been confirmed only for a June 12 raid in Page County. Votaw signed the town's 287(g) agreement with ICE on May 15, deputizing his officers to carry out immigration enforcement; according to the documents, the department received an initial $100,000 for transportation after its first apprehension, plus per-officer equipment funding. The agreement became public only in August, and discussion of it between Votaw and the Town Council had taken place in closed session, Charlottesville Tomorrow reported.
Votaw did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the records, and since September he has declined to say whether his department joined Greene County operations. At an October 5 community meeting he announced that Gordonsville officers would no longer take part in immigration operations outside the town, and on October 19 the Town Council voted 3-2 to terminate the 287(g) agreement altogether, as Awaaz Punjab reported earlier. Mayor Ron Brooks has said he believes the Greene County operation targeted people based on race; the sheriff's office has said its deputies stopped drivers only for traffic violations. The attorney general's inquiry is ongoing and no findings have been announced — the profiling claims remain allegations at this stage.