Posted on 09/19/2007 5:52:04 AM PDT by freespirited
The Prince William County police Tuesday unveiled a new policy to allow officers to check the legal status of traffic violators and crime suspects, winning cautious praise from county supervisors determined to address the hot-button issue.
Police Chief Charlie Deane said the plan would make Prince William County safer. He assured councilmembers that witnesses to crimes and victims will not be subject to immigration checks.
“Our policy, I believe, is fair, thoughtful and reasonable and it’s a policy that will focus primarily on criminal aliens,” Deane said.
But Carlos Castro, a local businessman and immigrant advocate, said, “It gives our local immigrant community the impression that Prince William county government is creating an anti-immigrant environment.”
The supervisors also learned that there is no cap on how many people can be submitted for deportation proceedings. The 40-person cap initially set by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the agency charged with handling deportations, was an estimate and is not a firm limit, ICE representative Vincent Archibeque said.
Supervisors raised concerns about the $14 million the plan is expected to cost over the first five years but saluted its potential to detain residents without legal status who have broken the law.
While Prince William already has a plan to check the legal status of suspected lawbreakers booked into the jail, this effort would expand residency checks to anyone arrested on suspicion of minor crimes.
Possession of a valid Virginia driver’s license will be sufficient to avoid an immigration check in most cases, Deane said. The Police Department will develop guidelines for when to check someone’s legal status, but the decision will be left in the hands of individual officers. All 514 officers will receive up to eight hours of training on how to check immigration status.
However, local police have such limited authority to address illegal immigration that it will take federal and international action to truly solve the problems facing Prince William , Deane said.
“No matter how much money you give me, we’re not going to be able to solve this problem ourselves. It’s bigger than us,” Deane said.
The plan, up for more review in October, will still require overcoming other problems, such as an overcrowded jail, a dismal county budget outlook and a possible legal challenge.
“If we’re going to do this,” said Col. Skip Land, superintendent of the Prince William Adult Detention Center, “Let’s give a model to the rest of the country to look at.”
dgenz@dcexaminer.com
I can hardly imagine the horror of waking up this morning in Prince William county and discovering that your local government intends to create an environment consistent with the rule of law.
/sarc
ping
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