Dan Genz, The Examiner
2008-04-02 07:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

Prince William County supervisors are considering changes to their crackdown on illegal immigrants to limit how many are held for minor crimes at the overcrowded county jail.

The Board of Supervisors and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Tuesday discussed focusing only on violent and felony offenders instead of illegal immigrants charged with any crime, including misdemeanors and traffic violations.

Nearly 700 inmates have been placed in federal detainers, Col. Peter Meletis said Tuesday, and 113 illegal immigrants at the jail are awaiting transfer to federal authorities.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement originally was expecting to operate on a basis of 40 illegal immigrant inmates per month, but the jail has detained at least twice that number, said Mark X. McGraw, ICE deputy special agent in charge for Virginia.

The federal agency agreed to pick up inmates after 72 hours, but instead has been taking two to three weeks, prompting a letter from the jail board, Meletis said.

“They do not have the bed space, nor do they have the budget to keep up with the number of inmates we are putting detainers on,” Meletis said.

The jail is about 300 people over capacity and is having to house local inmates at other jails around the state, some more than a four-hour drive from Manassas.

Changing the system could have broad appeal as supervisors try to cut expenses.

“If we are arresting people for rolling through a stop sign, I don’t know that they pose a significant threat to public safety,” said Supervisor Frank Principi, D-Woodbridge.

Detaining the worst criminals “was always our intent,” said Supervisor John Stirrup, R-Gainesville. “I didn’t realize we had gotten away from that.”

The Examiner reported in August that inmates arrested on charges as varied as trespassing and murder were facing deportation.

“What we also don’t want to be doing is sending people to the jail largely for immigration status when we have no space for them,” County Executive Craig Gerhart said.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com