Manassas City officials vowed to push forward with creating a united, regional program to check the residency status of suspected illegal immigrants questioned for crimes despite the federal government's recent rejection of a similar proposal.

The city will submit its own proposal for a six-officer unit to be trained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials under the so-called 287-agreement, which is designed to speed the deportations of undocumented immigrants who break the law.

After ICE rejected a bid to put the Prince William County Police, Manassas City Police, Manassas Park City Police and the Prince William County Sheriff's Department under one umbrella, each organization is expected to apply separately.

The proximity and close working relationship between the police departments raises questions about any differences in the new proposals.

This story continues below
Advertisement

“We always run the risk of ending up having four agreements that are separate that could have different enforcement or deportation criteria,” Manassas City Police Chief John Skinner said.

The city will push for the same type of special crime unit that Prince William County is anticipating, a six-member group of detectives that will be trained for more than four weeks on screening immigration documents. Having separate agreements provides the flexibility to create the right fit for each area, said ICE spokesman Richard Rocha.

“We like to work one on one so we can tackle area-specific problems,” Rocha said.

But a separate agreement will put pressure on officials from neighboring jurisdictions to push for identical criteria, two city council member said.

“The issue is, with Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park, we're like family and the last thing we want to do is have different types of rules,” Manassas City Council Member Andy Harrover said.

“I think, in the end, it will be just as strong, but it won't be as clean,” he said.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com