Saw this one in the news and thought it was worth giving notice about... (from the Washington Times)
By Natasha Altamirano
July 10, 2007
Prince William County Police Chief Charlie T. Deane has suspended a department policy prohibiting officers from asking residents about their immigration status except when they are suspected of felonies or other major crimes.
In a memo last week to the Board of County Supervisors, Chief Deane said he plans to implement a policy to "provide officers with additional guidance" and will pursue federal training for immigration-enforcement procedures. He will present his plans to the board today.
Board members are expected to discuss a proposed resolution requiring police officers making arrests and county staff providing public services to ask about immigration status.
There's a lot more in the original article which makes it worth the read, but regardless, I want to say this seems to be a move in the right direction as illegal immigrants should not be getting a free-pass by the people that should be checking to make sure they are in the country legally.
There has been similar news in the D.C. area regarding a gathering site used by day-laborers. That story can be found here: Herndon receives proposals for day labor center
The important part of that news is here:
The bids represent a step forward for the town council, which wants to dramatically change the nature of the center on Sterling Road by requiring the new operator to check the immigration status of the workers. The move is part of a larger mission by the new council to crack down on illegal immigrants in the small Fairfax County town.
“Basically, I think the whole council is looking for an operator that will check for legal presence,” Council Member Connie Haines Hutchinson said.
The day labor center dragged Herndon into the national immigration debate two years ago and is widely believed to be responsible for the ouster of the majority of the council and mayor last year.
The former council had approved the project in 2005 to consolidate workers who had previously gathered next to a convenience store.
Again, much more at the originally linked article, and again, the point being that apparently the government in Northern Virginia is waking up to the idea that the citizens DO NOT WANT, and WILL NOT TOLERATE having the government employees and politicians ignore the illegal immigrant problem. As noted in the clip above, the blatant disregard for citizen concerns over the fact that illegal immigrants would be the primary users of the day-labor camp probably led to the dismissal of those politicians in the last elections.
Certainly the local talk radio station fired up a lot of interest in the issue and kept the fires burning regarding the poor job that these pols had done in addressing everyone's concerns.
If more places would actually do as the people in the clippings above are doing and would address illegal immigration for the illegal activity that it is, then perhaps those of us that are concerned about such things could get back to a point where we would actually be supportive of more LEGAL immigration and more opportunity for people that want to come to the U.S.A. in search of the 'American dream.'
Until that happens throughout the country, I suspect that most citizens will continue to be dead-set against immigration reform, or at least 100% against any sort of blanket amnesty and path to citizenship for the law breakers that are already here.
