Thread: McAuliffe vetoes Marshall bill on illegal immigrants

By ANDREW CAIN Richmond Times-Dispatch
Andrew Cain
3 hrs ago

Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Friday vetoed a bill that would bar Virginia prison or local jail officials from releasing an incarcerated undocumented immigrant who is subject to a federal detainment order.

McAuliffe said House Bill 1468, sponsored by Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, would force state or local authorities to detain individuals longer than necessary if suspected of violating federal immigration laws.

McAuliffe called the bill unnecessary and said it could confuse local sheriffs and jail administrators, who already work closely with their federal counterparts regarding immigrants held in state and local correctional facilities.

“Second, I am concerned about the message this bill conveys,” McAuliffe wrote in his veto message. “This is just one of a series of anti-immigrant measures which have contributed to contention here in Virginia and nationwide.”

Marshall said in a phone interview that his measure would bar release of someone who “already is in prison or jail for having committed a serious offense,” who has been found to be in the country illegally and who is wanted by federal officials in another serious offense.

“They’re not there because they did not turn their (car’s) lights on during a rainstorm,” Marshall said.

McAuliffe, chairman of the National Governors Association, recently said that John Kelly, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, had assured him that the Trump administration did not plan to deport people unless they had been involved in a “criminal enterprise.”

Marshall said his bill is aimed at such offenders “so ICE can come and pick them up.”

He said public safety is a governor’s paramount duty, adding: “What is McAuliffe’s problem?”

Overriding a veto would require the votes of two-thirds of the House of Delegates and two-thirds of the state Senate. The Senate is closely divided, so lawmakers have never overriden any of the governor’s vetoes.

http://www.richmond.com/news/virgini...2e76ec2af.html

Bad Governor. Terrible. Hope Virginia can over-ride the veto!