Thread: Stewart (PW Co.) blames Congress for illegal immigration

Stewart blames Congress for illegal immigration

By KEITH WALKER
kwalker@potomacnews.com.
Friday, September 7, 2007
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Prince William Chairman Corey A. Stewart told a congressional subcommittee that Congress wasn't doing its job.

Stewart was a witness at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and Internal Law Thursday on Capital Hill.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, asked Stewart what he would have Congress do to help local jurisdictions deal with illegal immigration.

Stewart, who was asked to speak as a witness for the subcommittee because of Prince William County's attempts to crack down on illegal immigration, told King that he would like Congress to give local jurisdictions the authority to detain and arrest illegal immigrants, fine employers who hire illegal immigrants and fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants.

Stewart told the panel that by law police couldn't arrest and hold illegal immigrants unless they have committed another crime.

Stewart also told the panel that the people of Prince William County welcome legal immigrants.

"Illegal immigration drains the quality of life in our community," he said.

Stewart said that according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, one-third of all gang membership is made of illegal immigrants. He also said that 20 percent of the inmates at the Prince William-Manassas regional jail were illegal immigrants.

"We are on the front line of this problem; the localities, businesses and local taxpayers have to pay for the problem," he said.

Then he let loose and told the panel members, face-to-face, what he's been saying since the Prince William Board of County Supervisors passed a proposal for a resolution to deny county services to illegal immigrants in July.

"What caused the problem is you," he said. "It's the federal government's failure to enforce the law."

Stewart told the panel that the federal government's failure to secure the border also contributes to the problem.

Then he asked the panel for help. "We are asking for your support to crack down on illegal immigration," he said.

None of the other subcommittee members had questions for Stewart.

Sharon Pandak, who is running as a Democrat against Stewart for the Prince William County chairman's seat, said it's about time someone spoke to Congress about the illegal immigration problem, but wondered why Stewart didn't prevail on Congress earlier.

"It is long overdue that Prince William County finds its way to Capitol Hill on this important issue," Pandak said in a recent news release.

"The delay in drawing the president's and Congress' attention to their failure to do anything on a matter which has become so bitterly divisive locally is a mystery to me," she said.

Pandak said the county must "confront" illegal immigration.

"I will do all that I can to support our public safety personnel and to keep our communities safe. We must stop gang violence. I will not, however, sacrifice our public safety trying to solve an immigration issue which the federal government created or by letting the Congress continue to ignore the burden that it has shifted to county citizens by its utter failure to meet its responsibilities," Pandak said.

Suspects' illegal status discussed

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By KIPP HANLEY
jhanley@potomacnews.com
Friday, September 7, 2007

With illegal immigration a hot topic in the Prince William area, the county police will make more of an effort to publicize the identity and immigration status of those suspected of committing violent criminal acts, said Prince William County police Chief Charlie T. Deane.

Along with Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert and Col. Charles "Skip" Land of the Prince William-Manassas regional jail, Deane held a press conference Thursday at the West District Station off Wellington Road.

The impetus for the press conference came after a recent spate of violent crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants. The most recent case was Sept. 2 when Manassas resident Christian Molina, also known as Jose Maximino Flores-Perales, was charged in the murder of 51-year-old Ronald Dean Hollingsworth.

The press conference also came on the heels of a July resolution passed by the Board of County Supervisors that could eventually eliminate some county services to illegal immigrants.

"We understand the board's concerns and the community's concern about all these issues associated with illegal immigration," Deane said. "We understand what's going on in the community."

Molina, 30, had been deported in 2003 and 2005 after being arrested six times over a five-year period in Texas. He had also been arrested in Manassas Park for driving under the influence in January of this year, as well as in Manassas in July for assault and battery.

On the most recent charge, Molina had been released on $1,500 bond because there was no Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer placed on him at the time, said Deane. Deane speculated that a lack of technology on the local level and the fact that the suspect had several aliases may have prevented ICE from placing another detainer on him.

However, with the recent ICE training of selected regional jail officers, as well as impending new technology, cases like Molina's should be handled differently, said Ebert. Part of that new technology includes a fingerprint identification system that automatically links to computers at ICE.

"It's going to help law enforcement in the long run, because hopefully it will keep some of these folks that are career criminals out of our jurisdiction," Ebert said.

Land said it will only be a matter of 10 days or so before the new technology is set up.

"Without having the equipment, our people are actually having to do paperwork at the jail and travel to Sterling to use their equipment to verify," Land said. "We are not 24 hours yet, we are still in training mode. When the equipment gets hooked up, then we become operational."

Before the recent ICE training of regional jail officers, the county often cooperated with the federal group when tracking down violent, gang-related criminals. According to Deane, there have been 364 people placed in the deportation process in the last three and a half years due, in part, to the county's membership in the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force.

Deane also spoke briefly about two other cases. The first was a sexual assault case on Aug. 27 in which two illegal immigrants -- Jose Ramirez, 19, and Portifirio Ramirez-Baca, 34 -- were arrested for assault and battery and abduction with intent to defile. Ramirez-Baca had already been deported in 1997 for avoiding inspection upon arrival into the United States.

The second case occurred on Aug. 25. Illegal immigrant Jose Anibal Canales, 25, of Woodbridge is suspected of rape and abduction with intent to defile and is still at large, according to police. Unlike the other suspects, Canales has no record of previous deportation but had been arrested for DUI, identity fraud, driving on a suspended license and driving after the forfeiture of a license in Prince William County, Arlington and by the Pentagon police.

Ebert said he thinks one way to stop or slow down those criminals who choose to return from deportation or cross the border illegally is to punish them for their crimes in the United States, instead of turning them over to ICE right away.

"A lot of folks come back to this country quicker than a tourist can get back and it's just not right," Ebert said.

I think it is either 7 years or 10 years for someone to come back across after being deported.....use that clout!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!