South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. (Photo by Lexi Browning/West Virginia Watch)
After federal judges ruled that three immigrants were wrongfully detained in West Virginia, the state continues to hold hundreds of immigrants in its overcrowded prisons.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston on Wednesday ordered the release of Danny Briceno-Solano from the South Central Regional Jail, where he has been held for weeks. The prison is overcrowded.
In his opinion, the judge wrote that the government violated the Constitution by detaining Briceno-Solano “without explanation, without a hearing, without notice, or without an opportunity to challenge that detention.”
Johnston said Briceno-Solano is employed as a contractor and pays his taxes.
Federal judges have ordered the release of two more immigrants held in West Virginia prisons last week. There are numerous other pending immigration cases in the state where attorneys say their clients’ rights have been violated.
Hundreds of immigrants are being held in West Virginia prisons as Gov. Patrick Morrisey works with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to support President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
There was 252 According to data released Jan. 26 by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, detained immigrants are in the state’s prisons.
The majority of inmates were housed at the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston. Most of the others were being held at the Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville and the Western Regional Jail in Barboursville. There is excess capacity in all three prisons.
South Central had 556 inmates as of Feb. 3, although the facility has a maximum capacity for 460 inmates, according to department data shared by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
Sara Whitaker, senior criminal justice policy analyst at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said the state’s prisons have extra beds, including double and triple bunks, and “they have people sleeping on the floor.” Immigrant detainees have contributed to prison overcrowding; Department of Corrections data shows that almost every West Virginia prison has excess capacity.
“These short periods of incarceration can be life-threatening for people,” Whitaker said.
A report Published by the center this week, showed that between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2025, one person died behind bars in West Virginia every 6.3 days; One in four people who died was innocent and awaiting trial.
Federal judges order the release of immigrants detained in West Virginia
More than 600 Undocumented immigrants were arrested during ICE enforcement operations across West Virginia during a two-week surge in January.
Briceno-Solano was picked up by ICE agents on I-77 last month because his vehicle had unclear license plates.
Morrisey, a staunch supporter of Trump’s immigration policies, has teamed up with ICE 287(g) program to allow specially trained police and prison officers to perform certain immigration enforcement duties.
The governor said an ICE press release that immigration arrested”have removed threatening illegal immigrants from our communities and made our state safer for families and law-abiding citizens.”
Last week, U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin ordered that Venezuelan citizen Antony Segundo Larrazabal-Gonzalez and Honduran immigrant Damary Alejandra Rodriguez Flores of South Central be released and that they cannot be re-detained without an immigration judge’s decision.
“Despite what some may have been led to believe, immigrants who are in this country illegally enjoy the protections guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment,” Goodwin wrote in his ruling.
Johnston, appointed by President George W. Bush, said Wednesday in ordering Briceno-Solano’s release: “Today immigrants are being detained without due process. Tomorrow, under the administration’s interpretation of the law, American citizens could be subject to the same treatment. This court will not allow such a decoding of the Constitution.”
Whitaker noted that these individuals had access to lawyers who could take the matter to court.
“We know that the reality is that most people will not have an attorney who can represent them in a matter like this,” she said.
According to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, at least 11 petitions related to ICE activities and the illegal detention of people have been filed in the Southern District of West Virginia this month reported. The nonprofit law firm Mountain State Justice has filed petitions alleging its plaintiffs’ rights were violated because they were held without bail or because an immigration judge was involved in the case.
ICE pays West Virginia $90 for each day a detainee is held.
“According to West Virginia Division of Administrative Services records, WV DCR received $728,460 in payments from ICE for calendar year 2025,” corrections spokesman Andy Malinoski said.
The detained immigrant may have been held by ICE for possible deportation, or an individual may have been transferred from another state pending transportation to another location or deportation.
Lawmakers advance immigration measures
As immigration checks take place across the country and in West Virginia, state lawmakers took time in Charleston to consider a range of immigration bills.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced legislation It requires law enforcement to immediately transfer any person identified as an undocumented immigrant to federal authorities for deportation.
While no GOP senator spoke in favor of the Republican-sponsored party measureSen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, raised concerns about U.S. citizens being detained by immigration officials.
“My last name is Garcia. If I don’t have my passport or my birth certificate – which I don’t necessarily carry around – could I be stopped and arrested? You know, it’s not like that hasn’t happened in the United States,” he said.
The House passed a bill This would raise penalties for human trafficking of undocumented immigrants in West Virginia.
Democratic House members expressed concerns that the legislation could potentially lead to that Punish church groups or nonprofits that facilitate undocumented immigrants by, among other things, giving them rides to the grocery store. Lawmaker JB Akers, R-Kanawha, said criminal penalties would only be imposed if a person actively helped an undocumented person evade law enforcement.
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