Stewart asking Congress to subpoena for immigration records
By: David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer
August 6, 2010

Prince William County's top elected official is asking Congress to subpoena federal immigration records in an effort to find out how many illegal immigrants were released onto county streets after arrest.

Citing Sunday's death of a local nun, killed in a crash in which an illegal immigrant with a long arrest record was charged with drunken driving, county Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart wants to see the paperwork of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for illegal immigrants picked up by the federal agency in the county.

"We're going to get this done," Stewart said. "I think Congress should want this information -- why try to keep this information covered up?"

The long-simmering issue of illegal immigration in Northern Virginia has reached a boiling point in recent days after the death of 66-year-old Sister Denise Mosier, a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia.

Carlos A. Martinelly Montano, 23, was arrested and charged with drunken driving, involuntary manslaughter and felony driving on a revoked license. It's possible he could face a murder charge from the crash. Sisters Charlotte Range and Connie Ruth Lupton were critically injured and were undergoing surgery Thursday.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli recently added fuel to the controversy over illegal immigration in Virginia by issuing an advisory opinion that Virginia law enforcement officers can ask the immigration status of anyone arrested or stopped.

Stewart, who recently formed a political action committee in the hopes of garnering support for a statewide Arizona-like immigration law in Virginia, said he contacted U.S. Reps. Frank Wolf, R-Va., Steve King, R-Iowa, and Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., on the matter.

"We're going to work with the county to help them get the information that they're hoping to get from ICE and help them work to improve communications with ICE," said Dan Scandling, a spokesman for Wolf.

Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., whose district contains part of Prince William County, has received no correspondence from Stewart, according to spokesman George Burke.

The arrest was Montano's third drunken driving arrest in five years. He had also been released to Immigration and Customs enforcement two times for being in the country illegally.

"The Benedictine Sisters are dismayed and saddened that this tragedy has been politicized and become an apparent forum for the illegal immigration agenda," read a statement posted on their Web site this week. "While grieving and dealing with the death and severe injuries of our sisters, we would like to refocus attention on the consequences of drinking and driving, and on Christ's command to forgive."

When asked about the nuns' request not to politicize the issue, Stewart said that "this case is emblematic of something that happens each and every day."

"I completely understand the Benedictine sisters -- their mission is ... love, but my mission is law enforcement and the protection of the public," he said. "I've got my job to do."

Criminal deportations nationwide increased 19 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to Matt Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. As of July, criminal deportations had increased 38 percent compared to the same period the previous year. Fifty percent of all aliens deported this year have been criminals, he said.

Examiner Staff Writer Scott McCabe and the Associated Press contributed to this report.


dsherfinski@washingtonexaminer.com



Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local ... z0vqj6oXVk