A new report by Police Chief Charlie Deane showing how an illegal immigrant arrested on suspicion a traffic violation or minor crime could soon face deportation proceedings in Prince William County is expected to set off a strong debate over the issue Tuesday.
Although many Prince William County residents have been pushing for tougher immigration enforcement, others have warned that Deane’s proposal could make life tougher for the community’s Hispanic population.
“It will instill fear and distress for police in the community and increase racial tension,” said Nancy Lyall, coordinator for Hispanic outreach organization Mexicanos Sin Fronteras. “It will drive down property values, and people will leave the county to find a more friendly place to live.”
Deane said: “It is important we have a strong public education program in order to prevent unnecessary fear in the community.”
His plan calls for traffic violators or law breakers to be asked about their immigration status only when they do not have suitable proof of identification or have a federal immigration citation pending, Deane said.
Groups on both sides of the illegal immigration issue are planning to study Deane’s report carefully.
“What they’ve at least attempted to do is put a great many of safeguards into this,” said Kent Willis, executive director of the Virginia American Civil Liberties Union. “He’s not just saying every time we arrest someone, let’s check for their background.”
The issues of local authority and probable cause are both difficult matters, and the police proposal appears to address both adequately, said Greg Letiecq, president of the anti-illegal immigration group Help Save Manassas.
“You have to come up with something that is going to be very clear and defensible,” Letiecq said. “It’s along the lines of what we expected, and I think it’s going to be very reasonable and very effective result.”
It will be interesting to see whether the Latino population is checked more often than others without identification at the time of arrest, Willis
said.
“When they look at this in the long run,” Willis asked, “will they be able to say that white middle-class people without IDs had their backgrounds checked as often as individuals who speak a different language or appear to be from a different country?”
