Immigration inquiries raise alarm

Dan Genz, The Examiner
2008-03-14 08:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

Immigrants and activists expressed alarm Thursday that three people were questioned about their immigration status on the first day of Prince William County’s new crackdown without breaking a law.

“We have been told repeatedly that a person had to break the law,” said Aracely Panameno, a local immigrant activist who ran a write-in campaign for the Board of Supervisors in the fall. “That’s what they always said.”

On the first day of the crackdown, March 3, a man and a woman were questioned as persons of interest in an auto theft case and another man was questioned for a noise violation at his home. Although the three were not charged with a crime, in each case, an officer reported to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the person was an illegal immigrant.

“If an officer in the normal course of his duties determines that someone is illegal, they may inform immigration enforcement,” Prince William County Police Chief Charlie Deane said. “They are required to do that in the case where someone is detained for a violation of state law.”

An officer can check immigration status without making an arrest, but is not required to do so, Deane said. “An officer may make an inquiry under certain circumstances where an officer is doing his normal duty and someone is suspected of a crime.”

Federal immigration authorities have the authority to deport illegal immigrants when a local law enforcement agency forwards their names and locations, but they are not expected to do so, officials said.

The language in the illegal-immigration crackdown law the county Board of Supervisors unanimously approved July 10 prohibits any county official from preventing other county staffers from asking about someone’s legal status.

A supporter of the county’s policy, illegal-immigration critic Donna Widawski, of Haymarket, said that in each case, the officers appeared to be checking immigration status only when it was warranted in an investigation.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com