Local police say they don't plan to change their procedures in the wake of an attorney general's opinion that says they're authorized to question the immigration status of those they stop or arrest.
In a legal opinion issued late last week, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said police have the authority to ask about the citizenship of anyone they arrest or stop for a violation. It has been compared to Arizona's controversial new law.
Yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to police chiefs and sheriffs around the state, asking them to ignore Cuccinelli's opinion. The ACLU said his opinion was "legally faulty."
Law enforcement offices in the Fredericksburg area said they're well aware of Cuccinelli's opinion but that they don't plan to do things differently.
Current procedures primarily involve leaving it to the Rappahannock Regional Jail to ask the citizenship question.
When a person is taken to the jail, officers there ask two questions of everyone as part of a routine medical screening: Were they born in a country other than the U.S.? And are they citizens of a country other than the U.S.?
If a person answers yes to either one, then the jail notifies the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency. ICE agents have the ability to check the person's immigration status in national databases. If the person is found to be here illegally, ICE puts a "detainer" on the person and, after the person has served any jail time for the local offense, ICE comes to take custody of him or her. The jail is paid $60 a day for any time between the end of the person's sentence and when ICE agents pick him or her up.
That process does not produce many illegal immigrants.
In an 11-month period ending July 1 of this year, 101 prisoners taken to Rappahannock from Stafford, Spotsylvania and King George counties and Fredericksburg were found to be in illegal status and held on federal detainers.
By comparison, Fredericksburg police officers arrested 3,212 people.
Both the Fredericksburg city police and the Stafford sheriff's department said they rely on the jail to handle such issues.
Fredericksburg police public information officer Natatia Bledsoe said it is "not necessary to our mission to inquire into that status."
It could even be harmful, she said, if police did start routinely questioning the citizenship of people involved with potential crimes.
"In some cases it could actually compromise the effectiveness of the patrol officer if it appears we're taking a really strong stance on that," Bledsoe said. "We don't want to discourage people from coming to us, either as a victim or as an informant, and we feel it might happen if words gets out there that talking to the police means we're going to be asking 'Are you here legally? Where were you born?' It would hinder their effectiveness to get information on the street."
Stafford County Sheriff Charles Jett said his department's policy is also to rely on the jail for immigration checks, and that Cuccinelli's opinion won't change that.
"It doesn't change anything we've been doing. It sort of just validates and clarifies what we already know and how we already conduct our policy and practice anyway," Jett said.
He said it's somewhat impractical for deputies to ask suspects about their citizenship.
"For local law enforcement to make those inquiries, it can be rather time consuming, due to the fact that we do not have access to the ICE database," Jett said.
There is a program, called the 287g program, through which local law enforcement officers can become authorized to do some immigration enforcement functions, such as using the national databases that ICE uses to check immigration status.
Bledsoe said some Fredericksburg officers have applied, but that application has not yet been processed.
Jett said no one in his office has applied for the 287g program, partly because even if an officer's application is approved, the database access applies only to that individual. That person isn't always going to be around during traffic stops or arrests.
Not only would it be time-consuming, Jett said, it's expensive.
"The biggest issue with local law enforcement trying to enforce immigration laws is if its an unfunded mandate pushed down upon us, or another mandate we're not getting resources for. We're not even resourced to do the job that we're tasked with now," he said.
The Virginia State Police lets troopers and agents ask about legal status if it's relevant to the case, said spokeswoman Corrine Geller.
So if a trooper pulls someone over and the person can't produce a driver's license or other identification, she said, the legal status question might be asked.
Otherwise, it's unlikely.
"For a typical traffic stop, it's not an issue," she said. "If it's not relevant, then the question won't be asked."
Geller pointed out that it's not a crime under state law to be in the country illegally--it's a federal civil violation.
Gov. Bob McDonnell said this week that he's working to get 287g agreements in place for some state police troopers.
Chelyen Davis: 540/368-5028
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com
Four correctional facilities in Virginia operate as holding facilities for ICE: Hampton Roads, Pamunkey, Fairfax, and the Rappahannock Regional Jail.
At Rappahannock, from August 2009 through July 1, 2010, local arrests that led to the determination of illegal status and a subsequent federal detainer were relatively low:
Stafford 27
Spotsylvania 38
Fredericksburg 34
King George 2