A new opinion from Virginia’s Attorney General puts police officers on the front lines of the illegal immigration battle, but it won’t change the way local departments conduct business.
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli stated that like officers in Arizona, Virginia police officers have the ability to inquire about the immigration status of those who they arrest.
That’s nothing new, as Stafford County Sheriff Charles E. Jett says the immigration statuses of persons they arrest have always been checked at the jail.
“I think all the Attorney General did for us was to validate what we already know. There’s nothing that precludes local law enforcement from enforcing federal laws,” said Jett.
Federal immigration officials, or ICE, can check their lists of known illegal residents againts a list of people who have been placed in jails across the region. ICE has then has the ability to detain and question illegal immigrants, said Jett, though he admits ICE does not immediately deport every illegal immigrant who is arrested.
That appears to be the case in Prince William County, when on Sunday 23-year-old Carlos Martinelly Montano, now charged with involuntary manslaughter, crashed his car into another carrying three nuns, police said. A 66-year-old nun was killed instantly, and two others were flown to a local hospital where they remained in critical condition Tuesday.
It is Martinelly’s third DUI offense in the past five years – the second he’s been charged with since ICE officials learned of his illegal status in October 2008.
Customs officials say his DUI offenses were not considered violent felonies, so his deportation was not fast-tracked through the courts.
Unlike Stafford sheriff’s deputies, police officers in Prince William County can check immigration status before an arrest is made. Statuses cam also be checked at the jail.
The county’s wide-sweeping anti-illegal immigration policy was enacted in 2007, and amended to its current form in 2008 after outcry from the Hispanic community who feared possible police racial profiling.
Profiling fears concern Fairfax County police officials, who say if victims are scared to report crimes to police out of fear of being deported, that hampers investigators efforts to collect information and find criminals.
“We don’t check immigration status because of the adverse affects it could have in victims. That’s not to say that Fairfax is a haven for illegal immigrants, but we rely so heavily on the relationships between the community and police officers, because keeping those lines of communication open helps us do our jobs,” said Fairfax police spokeswoman Shelly Broderick.
Like Stafford, those arrested in Fairfax have their immigration status checked after they get to jail.
Cuccinelli in a letter to a Virginia Rep. Robert G Marshall, R-13th, stated there’s no difference between what Arizona officials are currently doing to curb illegal immigration and what Virginia law enforcement agents can do.
“Accordingly, it is my opinion that Virginia law enforcement officers, including conservation officers, may, like Arizona police officers, inquire into the immigration statuses of persons stopped or arrested…” stated Cuccinelli.
