Citizenship Status to Be Checked During Arrests

By Bill Brubaker (Contact)

Originally published at 2:34 p.m., June 17, 2008
Updated at 10:53 p.m., June 17, 2008

Loudoun County law enforcement officials said yesterday they will start routinely checking the immigration status of all people arrested in the county if deputies suspect they are in the United States illegally, implementing a policy similar to one that set off controversy in neighboring Prince William County.

Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson (I) told the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors that he had reached agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to participate in a program that ultimately seeks to deport illegal immigrants convicted of serious felonies.

Although federal agents are interested only in deporting certain felons, Loudoun will use a computerized ICE program to check even those charged with minor offenses if there's reason to believe they are illegal immigrants, Simpson said in an interview.

ICE will take custody only of those who have been convicted of certain felonies, including violent crimes, or who have returned to the United States illegally after being deported, he said.

The ICE program, also used in Manassas, Manassas Park and Herndon, will begin in Loudoun this summer, Simpson said.

Photo: Tracy A. Woodward

Loudoun County Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson talks with Sterling residents John Drake and Don Brock at an August 2007 panel discussion about illegal immigrationn in Loudoun County. Simpson spoke this week about the next phase in the county's plan to address illegal immigration.

In Prince William, the immigration status of those arrested is checked when they are booked, a police spokeswoman said yesterday. Some officials said this spring that federal agents took weeks to pick up suspected illegal immigrants from the county's overcrowded jail.

In Loudoun, Simpson said ICE officials rejected his request to allow jail officials access to immigration data. The program will be administered instead by three members of the sheriff's gang unit who will largely work at night, he said.

Simpson called the partnership with ICE a "big tool for us," especially in dealing with gangs operating in Loudoun.

Last year, as illegal immigration became a key issue in local elections, Simpson initially opposed participating in the ICE program, saying federal authorities wanted a burdensome guarantee that they could rent space in the overcrowded Loudoun jail to house detainees awaiting deportation hearings. Simpson began supporting the program after one of his opponents in the election campaign repeatedly accused him of being soft on illegal immigrants.

"It took him a while to get to this point, and I'm happy that he's there," said Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling), who had been the board's strongest proponent of a hard line against illegal immigrants.

In November, voters ousted several supervisors who supported Delgaudio's hard-line attitude. The board is now dominated by Democrats who have said immigration enforcement is not one of their priorities.

Several board members said yesterday that they support the sheriff's new authority but expressed concerns about racial profiling.

"If you commit a crime, I have no problems getting rid of you," said Kelly Burk (D-Leesburg), one of the new supervisors. "But I don't want it to be something that just goes after immigrants with Spanish names."

Responding to a question about racial profiling, Simpson told supervisors that his deputies will not check based solely on a suspect's ethnicity.

"I can assure you that that's not what this is all about," he said. "Racial profiling has not been condoned in the department. It never has. It never will be, as far as my administration goes. I'm very sensitive to the issue."

Staff writers Sandhya Somashekhar and Theresa Vargas contributed to this report.

Tagged: immigration, Sheriff's Office

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