Thread: VA: Arlington County must participate in federal immigration

Arlington County must participate in federal immigration program


Examiner Staff Writer
November 5, 2010

Arlington County can't drop out of a new federal immigration enforcement program that requires local police to check the immigration status of people they arrest and that the county fears will undermine community support for the police.

The Secure Communities program, run by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, requires local communities to check the fingerprints of criminal suspects against FBI and Homeland Security databases to determine if they're in the country illegally.

Arlington wanted out of the program because local officials worry that it breeds distrust between the county's immigrant population and local police.

While the county supports ICE's mission, "we are concerned that Secure Communities may foster fear and mistrust of local law enforcement officers," County Manager Barbara Donnellan wrote in a memo to the Arlington County Board.

County officials thought the county could quit the Secure Communities program because Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano once outlined the process a community would have to go through to "opt out" of the program. But ICE officials, in a recent meeting with Donnellan, Police Chief Doug Scott and Sheriff Bea Arthur, told them Arlington had to participate.

If Arlington County quit the program, it would lose access to federal databases that Donnellan said "could be crucial to effective law enforcement," including a suspect's known aliases and criminal history.

County Board Chairman Jay Fisette said he was disappointed that there were no alternatives that could have removed Arlington from the program.

Virginia has been a part of Secure Communities since June.

ICE officials offered to participate in a community meeting at which they would explain the program to county residents.

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Arlington wanted out of the program because local officials worry that it breeds distrust between the county's immigrant population and local police.

Why would that be the case? Why in the world would a program seeking to identify and deport criminal illegal aliens from Arlington County breed "distrust" with the local police? Oh wait, they mean breed distrust with the criminal illegal alien community, don't they?

Now, tell me, why would illegal aliens ever under any circumstance trust the local police in Arlington County? Are they in cahoots with each other? Are the Arlington County police getting something in return from illegal aliens who "trust" them? Why wouldn't Arlington County Police want illegal aliens identified, arrested and deported so they don't have to trust or be trusted by criminals who aren't supposed to be in Arlington County to begin with because they aren't supposed to be in the United States to begin with?

Now listen up people. Any police department or any county supervisors, commissioners or managers that don't want to identify, arrest and deport illegal aliens from their jurisdiction are getting paid by these people or their employers, advocates, aiders, abetters, harborers and smugglers to protect them from deportation, because there is no other reason why a cop would want to keep illegal alien criminals from being deported to maintain their "trust" which means the police departments in these areas are corrupt, on the take and involved in all the sleazy slimy businesses that accompany illegal immigration.

The only "trust" these cops and politicians need to be concerned about is the "trust" of the American citizens living in Arlington County. Hey! I've got a great idea ... how about they stop enforcing drugs laws, drinking laws, smoking laws, gun laws and speeding laws to build up the "trust" of the US citizen community in Arlington County? No? You don't think they'd do that? Then, why in the hell would cops give a damn about building up "trust" with foreign criminals??!!

How stupid do they think we are?! The only time you can fool an American is when we aren't paying attention. Well, we're paying attention now.

Arlington Officials End Fight Over Federal Deportation Program

http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/11/ ... ngton.html

by Seth Freed Wessler ShareThis | Print | Comment (0)
Tuesday, November 9 2010, 10:00 AM EST

Share Last week, officials from Arlington, Virginia met with ICE to determine once and for all whether the federal government will respect the county’s decision to opt out of the the Secure Communities program. The answer from ICE? An unsteady “no.â€

San Francisco won’t opt out of Secure Communities

By Elise Foley 11/9/10 5:15 PM San Francisco won’t be opting out of Secure Communities, officials said today after a meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The county leadership voted to be removed from the immigration enforcement program earlier this year and was given steps for removal — beginning with a meeting like the one held today with ICE officials — before ICE officials reversed their position and said opting out from the program was actually impossible.

Today’s meeting in San Francisco proceeded much like a meeting in Arlington, Va., last week: An ICE official acknowledged misinformation surrounding the opt-out process for Secure Communities, but ultimately said counties cannot prevent fingerprints collected for criminal background checks from being shared with ICE for immigration enforcement.

The program runs up against San Francisco’s sanctuary ordinance, which forbids cooperation with ICE unless mandated by the courts or federal or state law. Sharing fingerprints, then, will still be mandatory, but San Francisco may be able to enact other changes, such as no longer holding illegal immigrants who are run through the Secure Communities system but not charged with a crime, Eileen Hirst, a spokeswoman from the San Francisco Sheriff’s office, said after the meeting.

Secure Communities director David Venturella reportedly said in the meeting that local law enforcement is not required to respond to requests by the agency to hold suspected illegal immigrants. These holds, called detainers, have been criticized for imposing costs on local police and netting too many non-criminal illegal immigrants who would otherwise be released.

Although Sheriff Michael Hennessy — a vocal critic of Secure Communities — has not yet reached a decision, Hirst said he could decide his department will no longer honor all of the detainers issued by ICE, meaning San Francisco would again let some known undocumented immigrants go free.

Still, the word from San Francisco officials that Secure Communities is mandatory is a blow to rights groups that say ICE deceived communities into thinking sharing fingerprints was optional. Advocacy groups seem unlikely to drop the issue. After Arlington’s county manager released a memo reporting the county could not opt out of Secure Communities after her Nov. 5 meeting with ICE, immigrant rights activists said they would continue to push for more information on the opt-out process.

Lucero Beebe-Giudice, a spokeswoman for Tenants and Workers United, told TWI yesterday that opponents of the program are awaiting the results of a Freedom of Information Act request to ICE on policy agreements, program communications and technology records. Immigrant rights groups hope to get information on whether it would be technologically possible to give fingerprints to the FBI for background checks without forwarding them to ICE — which would then allow communities like Arlington and San Francisco to make a new push to be removed from the program.

Santa Clara, Calif., the third community that requested an opt-out meeting, is holding a meeting on Secure Communities with ICE this afternoon.

http://washingtonindependent.com/103084 ... ommunities