Thread: State task force proposes new jail for illegal immigrants

State task force proposes new jail for illegal immigrants


http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.c ... 6&ran=3749

State task force proposes new jail for illegal immigrants
By TIM MCGLONE, The Virginian-Pilot
© September 25, 2007 | Last updated 3:21 PM Sep. 25

RICHMOND - Among the recommendations of a panel studying illegal immigration in Virginia is to build a 1,000-bed state jail solely for people arrested for being in the United States illegally.

The proposal is one of 11 recommendations agreed to today by the Illegal Immigration Task Force in an effort to tighten enforcement of immigration laws.

The task force will conduct a public hearing on the proposals next month.

The panel expects to forward its recommendations to the State Crime Commission and eventually to the General Assembly for consideration in the 2008 session.



The task force was formed earlier this year after a double-fatal crash in Virginia Beach that authorities say was caused by an illegal immigrant with a criminal record. The driver, Alfredo Ramos, had prior convictions for drunken driving and being drunk in public, but his name was never forwarded to immigration officials.

Ramos pleaded guilty Aug. 13 to two counts of aggravated involuntary manslaughter and is to be sentenced Nov. 5. He is facing up to 40 years in prison, then deportation.

Roughly 10 percent of inmates in Virginia's jails over the past year were suspected illegal immigrants, with the majority being held on alcohol-related offenses, according to a Virginia State Crime Commission report released last month.

More than 21,000 of the 215,769 individuals housed in local jails could not prove U.S. citizenship, according to the report. Another 368 were in the state prison system. The study counted inmates who entered correctional facilities for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

I would suggest a tent city. I don't think a thouseand beds will do it.