BEST OF 2025: Immigration
This issue caused angst and fear for many in the Fredericksburg area all year, and one event at the very end of 2025 "tore apart" a local school community.
In January, the Trump Administration issued 10 executive orders related to immigration. The stated goal was to “protect the American people from invasion,” and among other actions, the orders suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program; made the border a military priority; ended humanitarian parole for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua; required noncitizens to register with the U.S. government; sought to end birthright citizenship; and pulled back funding from nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations providing aid to migrants and those seeking citizenship.
The Advance covered these orders early in the year, talking with members of the local Latino community about their fears; finding out how local organizations planned to respond; examining how the funding freeze affected the work of the local Catholic Charities; and talking with a volunteer immigration attorney.
In November, we ran a piece by columnist and University of Mary Washington professor Eric Bonds and two of his students, based on interviews they conducted with five local families with mixed immigration statuses.
And in December, we ran the story we’ve chosen as our top immigration story of the year, about Mirna Benitez, a 10-year custodian at a local school, here in the country on a work visa, whose detainment and eventual choice to self-deport has “torn apart” the school family.
Local Woman Detained After Reporting to Appointment with ICE
By Adele Uphaus
Mirna Benitez, a contracted custodian for many years at a local school, received a text message informing her of an appointment. She went, and was sent to a detention facility.
Read the full story
Local Woman who was Detained Earlier this Month is Now in El Salvador
By Adele Uphaus
Benitez chose to self-deport to El Salvador rather than stay in an ICE facility in Louisiana.
Read the full story
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