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Immigration bills sent to the House floor
Immigration bills send to House floor
By Chelyen Davis
Date published: 1/30/2008
RICHMOND-- A House committee yesterday approved bills that would bar illegal immigrants from state colleges, have sheriffs and jails check the immigration status of an arrested person, and require the governor to look into joining a federal program to deport illegally present criminals.
The House Rules Committee unanimously sent the bills to the full House, which will likely vote on them later this week.
Lawmakers were told most colleges in the state already have admissions policies that essentially refuse admission to those who can't prove they're legally present in the United States, by requiring a Social Security number from applicants.
"We're codifying what appears to be almost universal practice," said Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.
But the bill makes sure all colleges are doing that, legislators said.
The committee also approved a bill from Del. Jackson Miller, R-Manassas, that requires Gov. Tim Kaine to enter into a memorandum of agreement with Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) for Virginia to enter the federal program operated through the Department of Homeland Security.
That program allows certain state and local police officers to be trained to perform some federal immigration-law functions; basically, the trained local officers would identify illegal immigrants who are arrested, and start the deportation process if the immigrant's crime is one for which ICE says it will deport them. A big frustration of state and local officials is that police will call ICE to come get illegal immigrants who've committed a crime, and ICE doesn't respond.
Under the agreement, Miller said, ICE will have promised to come get illegal immigrant criminals for certain crimes. The federal government would also do the actual deportation, he said.
Miller also warned the committee that ICE is beginning to limit the number of agreements it will enter into, because so many localities are interested in the program.
He acknowledged it will cost the state some money, to pay for the training, but said there's no way of knowing how much unless Kaine signs the bill and then forges the agreement with ICE.
The committee also passed a bill, which was backed by the State Crime Commission, to require local police to check the resident status of people they arrest to make sure they're here legally, and report that information to a state database.
Date published: 1/30/2008
Most recent reader comments:
ICE will pick up illegal immigrants
(posted by
BGILBERT
, Jan. 30, 2008 10:11 am)
for "certain crimes". Why not pick them up because they are illegal and it is their damn job. This problem can not go away unless our own govt. quits playing pass the buck. If a yard is dirty you can't get it clean by picking up half the trash!
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