House approves $200 million for new immigration enforcement program
By: David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer
July 10, 2009
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to appropriate $200 million for a new immigration enforcement program used in Fairfax County and about 50 other jurisdictions nationwide.
Fairfax recently became the first county in Virginia to begin using the program, which is known as Secure Communities. Under the program, local officers scan the fingerprints of individuals arrested, which are run through government databases.
The issue of immigration enforcement has resurfaced this week, as a report from the Council on Foreign Relations concluded that cooperation between local and federal officials on the matter are "unsatisfactory." The council is a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on international affairs.
Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the CFR and director of the task force that completed the study, said local jurisdictions sometimes act too aggressively in enforcing immigration laws. The group was co-chaired by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former White House Chief of Staff Thomas "Mack" McLarty.
Kathleen Campbell Walker, a member of the task force, wrote that the report is too "sanguine" about efforts to expand the 287(g) program, which deputizes local officials to enforce certain federal immigration laws and is currently used in Prince William County.
"Numerous law enforcement associations support preserving the line between federal civil immigration law enforcement and state and local criminal law enforcement," she wrote. "Any expansion or endorsement of 287(g) programs ... must be limited to felony violations. Otherwise, security in local communities will not be enhanced."
The proliferation of Secure Communities has led some to believe that it could replace efforts to deputize local officials. "I think it very well could," said Alden.
Prince William's policy, which has been revised several times, is defined narrowly to "focus on illegal aliens who commit serious offenses including human trafficking, fake ID production operations and gang involvement."
Prince William Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, R-at large, has said he does not believe the programs are redundant, arguing that the 287(g) program allowed county police officers to participate in the deportation process.
Still, during a recession, securing the necessary funding for the program presents local governments with difficult decisions, Alden said.
"A lot of communities are reluctant to participate," he said. "The funding issues are going to become a bigger question here."
