Politics & Government

VA May Copy County's Illegal Immigrant Policy

Prince William Chairman of the County Board of Supervisors Corey Stewart applauds bill's passage out of the House. Will it pass the Senate?

The House of Delegates passed to the Senate a bill that would require local law enforcement agencies to check the immigration status of every person that is arrested.

Under House Bill 2332, if the law enforcement officer believes that the person is in the country illegally they are required to communicate that to a judicial officer who can deny the person's release based on the illegal immigration status. The person is arrested and kept in custody until picked up by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE).

The bill has a host of patrons, including Del. Richard Anderson, R-Prince William.

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The bill is now with the Senate as the General Assembly has reached its halfway point for this session, called crossover.

Prince William County approved similar law enforcement policies in 2008, making it the center of debate in Virginia on illegal immigration. 

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“I am thrilled that the legislators in Richmond have finally realized the seriousness of illegal immigration and have followed Prince William’s lead in taking the proper steps to make sure that illegal immigrants caught committing crimes in Virginia are deported," said county chairman Corey Stewart said in a press release.

Since these policies were enacted in Prince William, more than 3,000 illegal immigrants have been turned over to ICE.

A study by the Migration Policy Institute that looked at the application of these new enforcement policies found that localities that adopted them saw a decrease in the number of Hispanic immigrants. According to the , Prince William County lost 21 percent of its Hispanic noncitizens from 2007 to 2009, dropping from 32,100 to 25,500, the report said.    

Stewart mentioned a study the county had the University of Virginia conduct that said there is the possibility these enforcement policies resulted in a big drop in hit-and-runs and aggravated assaults. 

“Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime," Stewart said. "It is something that creates an enormous economic burden on local communities. I would hope that the members of the Virginia Senate keep that in mind when they vote on this bill.”
 


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