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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