U.S. tariffs and immigration enforcement have challenged Virginia farmers as the harvest season ends. For one Virginia farmer growing soybeans and tobacco, the next season seems uncertain.
Read moreFor Virginia foodbanks, growing demand amidst federal cuts
Pansy Frye and other volunteers load boxes of nonperishable goods for area seniors as part of a federal program at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank distribution center in Charlottesville, Tuesday, November 12th. Photo by Christopher Tyree
The Trump administration canceled 94 million pounds of food aid in recent months. Here’s what didn’t make it to Virginia charities.
Read moreFederal cuts and shutdown heighten food insecurity across Virginia
SNAP beneficiaries will temporarily receive assistance through the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance as government shutdown locks up funding for the federal program. Photo by: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Federal actions hit hardest on needy families in small cities and rural, southwest counties, according to a VCIJ at WHRO analysis.
Read moreUnder Trump, a lifeline for young women in rural Virginia fights to survive
Since 1967, Job Corps has been a fixture in Marion, Va. The residential campus on Main Street has trained generations in health care skills. Despite bipartisan support under previous administrations, the Trump administration is trying to close it.
Read moreFor Virginia farmers, a bumper harvest amid growing uncertainty
Kenney Barnard, 75, oversees migrant workers at Hoot Owl Hollow Farm in Amelia Court House, Va. on August 4, 2025. Many of the seasonal employees, coming from Mexico on H-2A visas, have worked on Hoot Owl Farm for years.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs and aggressive immigration enforcement have shaken markets and migrant labor.
Read moreNew $100,000 H-1B visa fee could stun Virginia companies, universities
Virginia’s businesses, nonprofits and schools employ thousands of foreign professionals. President Trump’s proclamation raising the cost of H-1B visas to $100,000 could send shockwaves through tech companies, universities and even public schools
Read moreVirginia surveillance network tapped thousands of times for immigration cases
A Flock camera on South Main Street in Bridgwater, Virginia, captures the comings and goings of traffic. The town has five strategically placed Flock cameras. They capture images of nearly 60,000 vehicles every month. Photo by Christopher Tyree // VCIJ
As federal immigration enforcement accelerated, police agencies outside of Virginia searched the Commonwealth’s network of Flock Safety cameras thousands of times over a 12-month period, according to an exclusive analysis by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO.
Read moreWho combed Virginia’s Flock surveillance data for immigration enforcement? Search here.
A Flock automatic license plate reading camera overlooks Colley Avenue in Norfolk, Va. on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. A federal lawsuit argues the city's 172 Flock cameras are an unconstitutional violation of privacy. File Photo: Cianna Morales/WHRO News
Surveillance network data obtained by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO shows how widely outside law enforcement agencies searched Flock Safety systems in Virginia for immigration-related offenses.
VCIJ at WHRO’s analysis of network data from Flock Safety’s Automatic License Plate Reader systems in Virginia was queried by more than 4,000 agencies across the U.S. About 3,000 of the searches conducted by those agencies appear related to immigration enforcement. – despite local agencies promising not to share or use the data for that purpose.
Read moreOne sleepy Virginia town. Nearly 7 million hits on its surveillance network.
A Flock camera on South Main Street in Bridgwater, Virginia, captures the comings and goings of traffic. The town has five strategically placed Flock cameras. They capture images of nearly 60,000 vehicles every month. Photo by Christopher Tyree // VCIJ
Thousands of Flock Safety surveillance cameras captured Virginia travelers in a small Shenandoah Valley town with an unblinking eye. Their data was shared and searched around the country millions of times.
Read moreTrump policies threaten Virginia’s clean energy gains
Greg Meade, who directs TNC’s overarching Cumberland Forest Project, visits the Knott Hollow site in Dickenson County, Virginia, last December. TerraForm Power has the solar lease option, but the development timeline is uncertain because of permitting issues. Photo by Elizabeth McGowan // VCIJ
The state’s milestone Clean Economy Act spurred impressive growth in renewable power. Now, that future is at risk.
Read moreICE arrests in Virginia soar under Trump crackdowns
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement assisted by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, apprehended three illegally present aliens during a routine enforcement operation in Arlington, Feb. 11, 2025. Source// US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Trump administration's enforcement has targeted thousands of foreign nationals - most from Central and South America and without criminal records.
Read moreIn Virginia’s coalfields, renewable projects hit a new roadblock – Trump
The Nature Conservancy is partnering with Charlottesville-based TerraForm Power to build a 10-megawatt solar array on a reclaimed surface mine near Pound in Wise County, Va. Wildcats Solar, scheduled to go online within two years, would be the first solar project to rise on TNC’s 253,000-acre, tri-state Cumberland Forest Project.
Renewable energy developers planned dozens of projects on property owned by The Nature Conservancy. Then President Donald Trump signed H.R. 1, upending an unprecedented effort to revitalize Appalachia.
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