Expanding county jails urged


October 17, 2007


By Seth McLaughlin - RICHMOND — A Virginia task force yesterday recommended the state offer additional incentives to localities that build jail space for illegal aliens awaiting deportation instead of building a 1,000-bed detention center.

"Instead of the state building one giant facility, we are going to let the sheriffs do it on an as-needed basis," said state Delegate David B. Albo, Fairfax Republican.

The recommendation was one of 17 adopted yesterday by the state's Illegal Immigration Task Force. The recommendations will be forwarded to the Virginia Crime Commission, which is scheduled to consider them at a Nov. 13 meeting.

The commission is then expected to forward its recommendations to the General Assembly, which could introduce related legislation next year.

The strategy approved by the task force yesterday would increase the state reimbursement from 25 percent to 50 percent for localities that build new space or expand their jails.

It would also allow local sheriffs to receive the full per-diem reimbursement from federal immigration authorities for housing criminal illegal aliens awaiting deportation instead of sharing the payment with the state.

The recommendations also call for streamlining data collection, urging police to close the language gap between departments and immigrants, and denying bail for criminal illegal aliens.

Task force members also called on federal immigration authorities to detail the criminal offenses that will guarantee an illegal alien is taken into custody.

"This is the first bite of the apple," said Sen. Ken Stolle, Virginia Beach Republican and co-chairman of the crime commission.

The recommendation came after a sometimes-contentious public hearing: Immigrant advocacy groups warned that some of the recommendations would create a chilling effect for all immigrants, making them less likely to report crimes; residents warned that lawmakers who are soft on immigration will pay in the Nov. 6 election — when all 140 General Assembly seats are up for grabs.

Mr. Stolle said a prominent goal of the commission has been stopping illegal aliens from being released after serving jail sentences for minor crimes such as driving under the influence and drug possession.

"If an illegal alien commits a crime in Virginia, we are going to make them available for deportation to ICE," Mr. Stolle said. "And [beforehand] we are trying to get ICE to tell us which ones they are willing to deport."

Mr. Stolle said the detention facility idea floated last month started to unravel after several people thought it sounded like a "concentration camp," and local sheriffs told him there was a better way to approach the problem.

"They are absolutely correct," Mr. Stolle told reporters yesterday after the meeting. "So why build a new system when we can take advantage of the current system that could have capacity to address the problem."


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