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Loudoun Mulls Enforcement Training

By Candace Rondeaux and Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, September 23, 2006; B06


Loudoun County Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson said yesterday that he is considering whether to enroll some officers in a federal program that would train them to enforce U.S. immigration laws.

His department is the second Northern Virginia law enforcement agency to express interest in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's "287 (g)" program this week. On Tuesday, Herndon Police Chief Toussaint E. Summers Jr. asked the Town Council to apply to federal authorities for enrollment; it is scheduled to discuss the proposal Tuesday.

Those who pass the five-week course are authorized to question or detain people they believe to be in the country illegally until federal immigration agents can take control of the case. Officers can also begin paperwork for deportation.

Simpson, who said he was still reviewing details of the program, said he would like to see members of his gang investigation unit be trained. "It would make a lot of sense for us and make it easier to start deportation for folks we run across who are illegal," he said. "With the growth and influx of Hispanic immigrants to our area, it would be a worthwhile tool for us."

Local law enforcement agencies have traditionally left immigration enforcement to federal authorities. But several departments, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Alabama Department of Public Safety, have put personnel through the program.

Other jurisdictions and agencies, including Virginia State Police, have passed on it, afraid that it might foster mistrust of police in immigrant communities. Yesterday, police in Fairfax, Arlington and Prince Williams counties all said they had no immediate plans to pursue it.

"The issue of local enforcement of federal immigration laws is complex and poses difficult circumstances for police departments," Arlington police spokesman John Lisle said yesterday. He said the department will continue to focus on its "primary mission of enforcing state and local criminal laws."

In Herndon, some immigrant advocates have denounced the idea, saying it would deepen the perception that the western Fairfax town is hostile to foreign-born residents. The police proposal follows the 2005 opening of a hotly disputed publicly funded center to serve the town's large population of immigrant day laborers.

Last May's election defeat of Mayor Michael L. O'Reilly and two council members who supported the center is widely attributed to voter backlash over the matter. O'Reilly was defeated by a political novice, health club operator Steve J. DeBenedittis, who was critical of the center.

Summers said this week that he had looked into the immigration program a couple of times over the past few years but never pushed to apply.

DeBenedittis, who encouraged Summers to reexamine the idea, said yesterday that it had nothing to do with the day laborers' center or the town's more recent crackdown on overcrowded worker housing.

He said he wants to hear more from the public about the program Tuesday night but that he is favorably disposed. "Anything that will help us remove violent criminals from our community" is worth considering, he said. DeBenedittis said the citizen response he has received has been almost uniformly favorable.

Staff writers Jamie Stockwell, Karin Brulliard and Theresa Vargas contributed to this report