Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell wants an answer from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
In August 2010, McDonnell sent a request to DHS for the state police to enter into a partnership with the federal government known as 287(g) — a program that deputizes local law enforcement agents to enforce certain federal immigration laws.
In a May 12 letter to the secretary, McDonnell pressed Napolitano to approve the state’s application “without further delay,” noting that Virginia has had a consistent relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and that discussions with ICE have resulted in a verbal commitment to move forward with the program.
“Ten months is an unacceptable time to wait for a simple answer from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” said McDonnell. “Virginia citizens deserve all of the protections we can afford them from dangerous criminal illegal aliens, and the best way to do that is to maximize our existing state force with the additional authority under 287(g). The time has come for an answer and immediate approval of our request.”
The secretary has offered to provide several ICE Special Agents that would be detailed to the VSP to perform functions under the program while the request is pending, according to the letter, but McDonnell wrote that such resources “do not change the critical need for 287(g) authority for the Virginia Department of State Police.”
A handful of jurisdictions have already implemented the program in Virginia, although the Government Accountability Office has criticized the program, saying it needs better controls, and others argue that it unfairly targets people of color and the Latino community.
The issue of illegal immigration became particularly heated in Virginia last year after Carlos Martinelly Montano, an illegal immigrant who had been twice convicted for drunk driving, was released by federal authorities and killed a nun in an alleged drunk driving accident. McDonnell subsequently directed the state Department of Motor Vehicles to stop issuing a federally issued work authorization card that Martinelly Montano had received in January 2009 as he was awaiting deportation.
In the May 12 letter, McDonnell also thanked Napolitano for discussing the tornadoes that ravaged the state in April, killing ten and destroying more than 200 homes, although he said he was disappointed that the federal government denied the Commonwealth federal assistance – a decision McDonnell is appealing.
