Every person arrested by Prince William County police would be checked through a federal database to determine whether they are illegal immigrants, under a draft of department policy changes released Monday.

Supervisors are scheduled to be briefed on the draft today.

“Officers shall investigate the citizenship or immigration status of all persons who are arrested for a violation of a state law or county ordinance,” the draft version of the policy states. The officers would run the names through the National Crime Information Center.

If the policy is approved, those found to be illegal immigrants would be reported to federal authorities, and their status would be considered in bail hearings.

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Under the original policy that was overhauled in April, officers were required to check the legal

status of suspected illegal immigrants only. However, those suspects were checked for committing more minor violations, such as traffic citations.

Immigrants vehemently objected to the policy, saying officers could be racially profiling residents when checking immigration status.

County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart said the new policy would result in far more illegal immigration checks.

“Now, every single person who’s arrested are going to have their immigration status checked,” Stewart said. “This is a stronger and more legally defensible version.”

Officers are allowed to check legal status for minor violations under the policy, but those checks are no longer required and are at the officer’s discretion.

The change to the directive for police officers is designed to reduce the county’s liability to expected racial profiling lawsuits that lawyers have been promising for months.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com