Thread: Va. General Assembly to take up tougher immigration bills

Va. General Assembly to take up tougher immigration bills

By: David Sherfinski 12/26/10 8:05 PM
Examiner Staff Writer
Arnoldo Borja (R) greets Latino day laborers who stand along Little River Turnpike waiting for construction and landscaping jobs April 29, 2006 in Annandale, Virginia.(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Arnoldo Borja (R) greets Latino day laborers who stand along Little River Turnpike waiting for construction and landscaping jobs April 29, 2006 in Annandale, Virginia.(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Nearing the end of a year in which the issue of illegal immigration repeatedly roiled Virginia, state lawmakers introduced numerous bills for the 2011 General Assembly that would toughen the state's treatment of undocumented residents.

Del. Christopher Peace, R-Henrico, recently filed a bill that would bar illegal immigrants from attending Virginia's public colleges and universities. And Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax, introduced legislation requiring local social service agencies to verify the legal status of those applying for public assistance and giving the governor the power to withholding funding for agencies that don't comply.
Immigration in Virginia, 2010
June -- Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announces the expansion of the federal Secure Communities immigration program to every Virginia county. Arlington County tries to opt out but is told it can't withdraw without severe penalty.
July -- Cuccinelli files an amicus brief in support of Arizona, which was sued by the Justice Department over its tough immigration law, and rules that Virginia law enforcement can ask the legal status of anyone stopped or arrested.
August -- Carlos A. Martinelly Montano allegedly kills a nun in a drunk driving accident. After two previous DUI arrests, he had been detained by immigration officials but allowed to remain in the country. Gov. Bob McDonnell proposes joining federal program that would deputize Virginia State Police to enforce certain federal immigration laws.
September -- McDonnell bars the state Department of Motor Vehicles from accepting a federal work authorization card that Montano used as proof of legal status when applying for a driver's license.

The bill is one of several immigration measures filed by Albo, who advocated tougher restrictions on public services to illegal immigrants in the past. Another proposal mirrors a controversial law in Arizona requiring police to check the legal status of anyone "taken into custody."

The issue of illegal immigration reared its head repeatedly in the Old Dominion this year, in part because the state's new attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, has focused much of his attention on it.

Cuccinelli, a Republican, filed a legal brief in support of Arizona, which is being sued by the Justice Department over one of the toughest state immigration laws ever passed, a law that in its original form required residents to carry proof of citizenship. Though parts of Arizona's law, including that identification requirement, were put on hold by the courts, other provisions are being adopted by Virginia and other states.

In a ruling related to the Arizona case, Cuccinelli said that Virginia police are authorized to question the immigration status of anyone they stop or arrest.

Gov. Bob McDonnell also has taken up the issue. When an illegal immigrant from Manassas was charged for the third time with drunk driving after allegedly killing a nun in a car accident in August, McDonnell ordered the state Department of Motor Vehicles to stop accepting the federal employment identification card the driver, Carlos A. Martinelly Montano, and other immigrants used as proof of legal status when applying for a driver's license.

Illegal immigration was also an issue on the local level in Virginia in 2010.

In Arlington County, officials tried to withdraw from the federal Secure Communities program, which requires police to check suspects' legal status against federal databases, saying it was undermining police relations with the immigrant community. But federal authorities wouldn't let them withdraw without severe penalty.

In Prince William County, meanwhile, officials touted a University of Virginia study they said proved that the county's crackdown had few drawbacks.

The crackdown on illegal immigrants comes at a time when the number of undocumented residents has actually dropped, from 12 million to 11 million nationally, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, and, in Virginia, from 300,000 to 240,000.

dsherfinski@washingtonexaminer.com

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/vir ... z19MIVjerI

Could it be VA is joining the ranks?

"The crackdown on illegal immigrants comes at a time when the number of undocumented residents has actually dropped, from 12 million to 11 million nationally,"

Some body is smoking CRACK

The number is 20 million plus

Roy Beck puts it at around 36million!
393,000 is just a drop in the bucket!

I think Roy is probably pretty close