Thread: VA Beach Mayor Blames ICE?

O.k. sis, I'll go get 'em. But it may not be a pretty sight!

I have to pick my Daughter up from her Mom's house for the weekend, first.

Originally Posted by dragons5

here is a response I got after the recent tragedy:

Thank you for your e-mail expressing your concerns regarding the recent tragic deaths in Virginia Beach of two precious teenaged girls killed by a drunk driver. Our City mourns with the families and friends of these young women who were taken in such a senseless act.

It has been reported that Virginia Beach is a sanctuary city. This is just not true. Our City Council has never enacted any laws that call for our employees not to report illegal immigrants to the federal authorities. In the case of the driver who is charged with killing these girls, our Police Department immediately notified the federal authorities that he has admitted to being in our country illegally. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is a federal agency, has the authority to deport illegal immigrants. ICE has informed our Police Department that unless an illegal immigrant has committed a felony, they cannot respond to reports due to staffing limitations.

It has also been reported I personally “ordered” the Police Department not to contact the federal authorities. Again, this is completely untrue. Our City operates under the Council-Manager form of government and, as such, the Mayor is one of eleven Councilmembers with the same power as the other ten members. I do not have the authority to direct the Police Department, which falls under the supervision of the City Manager. I would never direct the Police Department in any of their operations, nor have I ever done so.

Please do not judge Virginia Beach based on the erroneous reports that have been made. Our City complies with all laws governing illegal immigrants, which have been set at the federal level. We will continue to enforce these laws to the extent possible, as well as all others laws, including driving under the influence (DUI). Our Police Department has the only DUI Selective Enforcement Team in Hampton Roads, and we lead other cities in arrests and reduced fatality crashes from 26 in 2005 to 17 in 2006. Even one fatality is too many, and we will continue our efforts to keep our residents and visitors safe.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your comments.

Sincerely,



Meyera E. Oberndorf
Mayor

I got the same response after sending the following;


I am a concerned American citizen that was apalled to learn from the O'Reilly report that an illegal alien that had at least one prior D.U.I. arrest in your city was recently involved in another D.U.I. incident that involved the death of American citizens.

This illegal person should never have been released without being turned over to I.C.E. after the first incident.It's unbelieveable that a city such as yours would tell law enforcement not to ask the immigration status of all arrestees.I would hope this isn't true and can't believe that it is.

Having visited your city in the past and enjoying my visit, (on vacation)I would be reluctant to visit there now knowing that people from other countries of unknown status could be in your city doing who knows what.This law or rule should be changed to protect innocent American citizens that live in and visit your city.

My wife has commented to me that she would never allow our family to vacation there again.

Oberndorf is little more than a puppet in Virginia Beach. The City Manager is James Spore and he's apparently elevated the desirability of Virginia Beach. Having been in this position since the early 90s, he's either slipping badly or his hands are tied.

I'm going after Spore and the individual Council members. Wonder what their auto-responders will cough out.