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.
Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax, said some police do check such status, but others do not. He said information given to the Crime Commission in hearings last year was that 10,000 to 12,000 illegal immigrants are in Virginia jails.
John Jones, of the Virginia Sheriff's Association, said his organization backs the bill.
"If there are any immigration bills you ought to pass, it's this one," he said. "You can't go after all illegal aliens, so you ought to go after ones who commit crimes."
The Rules Committee has other immigration bills awaiting a hearing by a subcommittee on Thursday.
On the Senate side, a subcommittee of the Senate Courts of Justice committee yesterday approved a bill from Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Westmoreland, to deny bail to illegal immigrants who commit crimes.
Stuart said the bill is needed because illegal immigrants are a greater flight risk, less likely to return to court for their trial.
Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, disputed that.
"If the concern about somebody being here illegally is they don't have any ties to the community, that's not necessarily true," Edwards said.
Sen. Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, the subcommittee chairman, said he had doubts about the bill because the state isn't likely to pay localities any more for keeping illegal immigrant criminals in jail.
He agreed to report the bill to the full committee, but said it will eventually have to go to the Finance committee.
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com