County's Plan to Check Immigration Status Under Scrutiny

By Bill Brubaker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 20, 2008; 4:44 PM



The American Civil Liberties Union today asked the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office for documents related to its plans to check the immigration status of all people arrested in the county who are suspected of being in the United States illegally.

"We believe these kinds of policies are ill-advised in all circumstances, placing the federal responsibility to implement immigration laws in local hands and leading to hostile relations between local governments and their Latino communities," said Kent Willis, executive director of ACLU's chapter in Virginia.

"But where these policies do exist, those in charge must train police officers in non-discriminatory practices, they must put in place an explicit race-neutral protocol for determining when citizenship records will be sought, and they must have recordkeeping systems that compare treatment across racial lines," Willis said in a statement.

The ACLU said it has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the sheriff's office asking for records "pertaining to policies . . . for determining which arrestees will be subject to immigration status checks."

Sheriff's spokesman Kraig Troxell said today that Loudoun deputies already have a general order from the department not to show bias. He also noted that three deputies this week began participating in federal training "on how this program works."

Loudoun Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson (I) announced plans for the immigration status checks on Tuesday, saying he had reached agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to participate in a program that seeks to deport illegal immigrants convicted of serious felonies. The program already is in place in some other Northern Virginia jurisdictions.

Simpson said Tuesday that his deputies will not target suspects based solely on their ethnicity. "Racial profiling has not been condoned in the department. It never has. It never will be," he said.

ICE is seeking to deport only illegal immigrants convicted of certain felonies, including violent crimes, or those who have returned to the United States illegally after being deported, according to Simpson.

But Loudoun will use a computerized ICE program to check the residency status of even those charged with minor offenses if there is reason to believe they are illegal immigrants. Simpson said people charged with minor offenses must be checked because some may have felony convictions on their records.

The ICE program, also used in Prince William County, Manassas, Manassas Park and Herndon, will begin in Loudoun this summer, Simpson said.

Willis, in his statement Friday, questioned whether Simpson has a protocol for how law enforcement officers will decide which suspects should be checked. "If he implements this plan without precise -- and probably costly -- procedures to protect against discrimination, then we are concerned that discrimination based on national origin will occur," he said.

Troxell said the three deputies being trained in South Carolina will become "experts" on the program and will work "hand in hand with ICE" to ensure it is being run properly

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