City may consider ICE training
By ALEXANDER J. GRANADOS
agranados@potomacnews.com
Friday, September 29, 2006


Manassas could be looking at federal immigration training for city police officers in the near future.
Council member Jackson H. Miller pushed the idea of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement training for Manassas police officers after an unrelated City Council work session Wednesday night.

"It wouldn't be a case where they'd be going into the kitchens of restaurants asking for green cards," he said. "This would be a case of them moving forward when they arrest an immigrant on local charges."

Miller is running for the 50th District of the Virginia House of Delegates and he supports ICE training for local law enforcement as one of his plans for dealing with illegal immigration.

Miller's proposal comes on the cusp of the Herndon Town Council's 6 to 1 vote Tuesday to allow officials to contact ICE to ask about enrolling officers in the agency's 287 (g) program.

The 287 (g) program is a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The program basically provides ICE training for local police officers so they can enforce immigration violations.

The training is offered free by ICE to local jurisdictions if they are accepted into the program. But that does not include travel expenses, lodging or the salary paid to officers while away from duty for the five week course.

Herndon Mayor Stephen J. DeBenedittis could not be reached for comment, but said in a written statement that the training would not be used to randomly detain illegal immigrants.

"... If adopted in Herndon it would give our police department an additional tool in their efforts to move serious offenders who are also illegal aliens out of town ... " he said in the statement.

Miller said he spoke with an ICE official Wednesday who said that Herndon would most likely be accepted into the program, and that Manassas could probably also participate if it wanted.

Miller suggested Wednesday that the city council set up a work session at some point to meet with an ICE official and discuss the program.

Manassas chief of police, John J. Skinner, expressed reservations about ICE training for local police Wednesday night.

Police departments in the region and locally don't have the staff to take on the responsibility, he said.

He also cited potential "community backlash" and overcrowding in the the Prince William-Manassas regional jail as problems to consider.

"These things are all like a train wreck waiting to happen," he said.

He said the council needed to consider issues related to the city's image and reputation, especially given allegations that the city discriminates against Hispanics.

These allegations are the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine if the city's housing overcrowding program is discriminatory.

Jurisdictions across the country -- including in Florida, California and North Carolina -- have already taken advantage of ICE training.

Jim Pendergraph, sheriff of North Carolina's Mecklenburg County, said that 12 deputy sheriffs in the department have received the training.

"It has been a success beyond what I had even imagined," he said.

The Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office started processing illegal immigrants May 1, and since then they have sent 600 people out for deportation, he said.

As part of his deal with ICE, Pendergraph gets access to a database of fingerprints and a photo recognition system of illegal immigrants arrested nationwide.

"We are finding people who are wanted in other parts of the country," he said. "We would never have known that."

And he said the local immigrant community supports what he is doing.

"They realize I'm not out in the community with a net trying to catch people who are just minding their own business," he said.

Miller stressed Wednesday that it was important to move quickly on the issue of getting local police officers trained by ICE, so that they wouldn't miss the opportunity to participate in the training program.

Mayor Douglas S. Waldron said Wednesday that more consideration is necessary.

"We all need to be more informed about this I think," he said.

A decision has not yet been made whether or not to have a work session on the subject, Waldron said Thursday.

This story can be found at: http://www.manassasjm.com/servlet/Satel ... path=!news