RICHMOND
Virginia lawmakers voted overwhelmingly this session to deny bail to illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes and to require jailers to ask people they take into custody about their status.
And they passed legislation requiring all public entities to include in their contracts a clause that requires contractors to certify they won't hire illegal immigrants. The bills are some of a handful of new immigration measures that came out of the General Assembly. But some of the legislation aimed at getting tough on illegal immigrants did not survive.
"It's no surprise. It takes a long time to get anything done in Richmond," said Greg Letiecq, executive director of Save the Old Dominion, a Manassas-based group that lobbies against illegal immigration.
Others questioned whether stronger action taken by the General Assembly was necessary and actually made people less safe.
"When local police are seen as immigration agents, it destroys community policing efforts and undermines the trust between law enforcement and the immigrant communities of Virginia," said Tim Freilich, legal director of the Legal Aid Justice Center's Immigrant Advocacy Program.
Advocates for immigrants and some public safety professionals lamented the narrow defeat Wednesday in the House of Delegates of SB441, legislation that would have prevented law enforcement officials from asking crime victims or witnesses about their immigration status.
"They were terrified that somebody would call it a pro-immigrant vote. So they left our police without a tool that they could use to get gang members and other dangerous criminals off our streets," said Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, lobbyist for the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations.
Other high-profile measures that didn't survive include:
- HB1472, which would have protected employers from lawsuits if they fired people for not speaking English on the job
- HB623, which requests that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine enter into an agreement with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to allow some state and local officers to assist in immigration law functions.
Still being debated is SB652, which would deny in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. At the start of the session in January, Republicans, who control the House, identified fighting illegal immigration as one of their top priorities.
As the weeks progressed, they narrowed their focus to law-and-order bills to target illegal immigrants who commit crimes and punish employers who hire illegal workers.
Democrats, who have a majority in the Senate, believe that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, Sen. Janet Howell, D-Reston, said. Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, estimated only a handful of the 25 to 30 anti-illegal immigration bills passed the Senate or its committees.
"We try not to be about building people's campaign brochures, and that's essentially what most of these bills are," Saslaw said.
Sen. Kenneth Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, said it was hard to argue that the legislation passed affects illegal immigration in the Commonwealth. "There were some of the absolute basics passed," Cuccinelli said. "Those were the no-brainers of the no-brainers."
Del. Kenneth Melvin, D-Portsmouth, said the General Assembly makes little progress on the issue of illegal immigration by passing piecemeal measures and "legislating around the edges."
Jen McCaffery, (757) 446-2627, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com
Richard Quinn, (757) 222-5119, richard.quinn@pilotonline.com
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A FEW MORE WORDS ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
State politicians and some county "savers" need to educate the public about this thorny issue of illegal immigration, first of all, illegals DO NOT come just from Mexico or Central America, they come from China, Middle East, Canada, Africa and as far as Russia and what the police is going to do? stop everyone that looks Hispanic and no one from another nationality? wouldn't this be a clear form of racism? second, public asistance IS NOT provided to any person that does not have proper documentation so where you people got this idea of spending millions in asisting illegals? third, illegal immigrants DO NOT pay taxes, this is true because taxes are taken away from them, they don't have legal documents so all the billions of dollars in federal and state tax that is wihtheld is never returned to them. and last, our governtment needs to stop funneling millions of our tax dollars to corrupt foreing governtments that are to blame for the missery of their people that have no other choice but to emmigrate. we need to stop blaming others for the crippled economy, we need to stop electing bad politicians that divide our community. federal and state governtments need to enforce the existing l
Witness..
..the Lazaro Cardenas-Kansas City Corridor. Mexican labor moving Chinese goods into the country and Mexican companies imposing a tax on the road. When I see a hispanic coalition, all I see are havens for illegals to get in and stay in this country and, the politicians from Virginia Beach to Richmond to Washington use them as a voting block. There is no immigration because the government doesn't want it. Too busy making money. I'm glad I won't live to see the additional 25-40 million hispanic "immigrants" flow into this country in the future. The US that I grew up in, is slowly fading away. It's way too late to stop all this!
A House Divided
It is no exaggeration to claim that there are immigration advocacy groups in this country who are more interested in the rapid expansion of their cultural and political base and less interested in American law currently on the books. Narrow political and business-driven agendas and non-existent Federal action in the enforcement of existing laws are dividing this Nation.
When any foreign national (legal or illegal) is arrested, for any crime in any city, this person’s personal info needs to be turned over by local and state police to ICE for review and possible deportation hearings. Foreign nationals are guests in our country and their ability to remain in the USA should be directly linked to their respect of our laws. The Federal government’s unwillingness to confront Municipalities with ad hoc “Sanctuary City” policies is dividing this country.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other."
virginia's lawmakers
Virginia lawmakes are responsible for eliminating state prison overcrowding, early childhood education and affordable higher education. Virginia lawmakers are responsible for making sure Virginians have afforable health care and that we're provided with acceptable and equal means of protection provided by law. The people elect the lawmakers. I shudder to think that many of the decisions put in place are the desires of thinking,caring citizens. Spending millions of dollars, on perhaps unlawful practices by DOC,while cutting down on school spending, allowing guns to proliferate haphazardly and continuing injustice to many of the citizens;is that what the people desire? Is this particular group of lawmakers, some of them, representative of the people? Illegal immigrants are the target now. Who will be next; native white people ?
Post Voting Results
Due to the extremely high interest in the local and national immigration problems that have become rampant, respectfully request the Pilot capture and report each of our state legislators voting results by name in a featured article. Please don't tell me you publish them already (since I do see one or two articles with voting results on page 18 of the "whatever" section of your paper throughout the session)...our representatives need to stand tall and be accountable for their votes; all of them. Everyone knows that politicians will pad their resume' "against illegal immigration" and not think they're lying if they support only one of the multiple issues on the table. The voters (your readers) deserve this information; then, we can go to the polls better knowing the facts. Thank You.
Good Comments
All of the comments submitted are excellent. Our Immigration Laws have not been enforced because the congressman and senators in Washington D.C.
are more interested in obtaining campaign donations from those who benefit from cheap illegal alien labor. Very few of our leaders in Washington D.C. and state governments have the backbone to stand up look
after the interests of American citizens. They have been giving our jobs and nation away for the last 30 years. A nation that makes nothing to sell has no wealth. A nation that has no borders is no longer a nation. That is were we are today.
nonsense
I feel that law enforcement whether city , state or federal, should uphold all the laws whether city ,state , or federal law, why are we catering to illegal immigrants , this state allows them to get drivers licenses , contractor licenses , get loans from banks , they own houses get city utilities, such as water and electric , and gas , and they get public assistance too , the state wants contractors to sign aggreements not to hire illegals but verison one of the biggest companies around is excluded , companies regularly bring in help from out of state and use illegals to do construction , farms all over the state regularly hire immigrants to do farm labor , If this is such a problem they should be cut off of everything , illegal immigrants should not be allowed to have city services , licenses , mortgages , or jobs, period , stop excluding some companies and trades from immigration employment practices , and make it illegal for them to be here period , law enforcement everywhere should administer tha law to everyone , stop worrying about there image with immigrants and do there job , if they dont have papers and proper id send them back to where they came from
Once Again
Our Esteem Democrat friends in Richmond show their true color about taking on the tough issues. Illegal Immigration is NOT just a federal issue, This Issue has to be addressed at the state and local levels. Punish the employers who continue hiring the illegals with fines, and then also work on deporting the illegal immigrates out of the state, Send them back to where they are from. They broke our laws to get here making them fugatives from justice and like any other law breaker, we should punish them to the fullist extent of the law like we do our own citizens, This way maybe just maybe we can get it into their heads you are welcome here as long as you come here the right way and do not break our laws. If our elected officials can't seem to get this issue straight then stand by we can and will do what we have to by voting you out of office to get this message across, We do not want to support ILLEGAL immigrates with our hard earned tax dollars.
What?
"When local police are seen as immigration agents, it destroys community policing efforts and undermines the trust between law enforcement and the immigrant communities of Virginia,"
I disagree. Who better to police the invasion of this country than the first responders? Police are often the first point of contact for illegals, so let them begin the deportation process - by turning them over to INS or ICE. Illegal immigration is over-burdening everything from social services to available jobs.
Where are/were the bills to require banks, credit unions, utilities, etc to report illegals? Where was/were the the bills to get DMV involved? This problem is out of control folks. When we have two Dem presidential candidates seeking the nomination that could not support a bill in the US Congress to maintain English as the official language of this country, we have a problem.
One thing is certain. This country is fast being splintered into too many mini-countries (note that two is too many). History has shown that allowing that to happen leads to the fall of nations. Think "divide and conquer" - been to Miami lately?????
Pass the Buck
So immigration is a Federal issue, road building is a local issue and support of the arts should be left to private organizations. What exactly are the state issues that these folks go to Richmond to take care of?
Do they even know.............
First they have to recognize there is a problem. Then they have to take measures. They see that the Federal govt. isn't. We have people undermining our laws, still at the cost of Virginia's citizens and the USA. I guess hosting 5th largest concentration of Mexican invasion is not good enough.......... yet. If they are not part of the solution then they are part of the problem. LEADERS LEAD!!!
Many Virginia politicians seem to forget
I cannot believe I just read that state politicans are once again passing the buck & saying illegal immigration is only a Federal problem. Wake up! Our country is only as strong as it’s weakest link & the Federal government cannot be expected to handle everything. Illegal immigration IS a state & local government problem too because it is these governments that pay for the many benefits illegals receive such as medical, education & other benefits. Our infrastructure cannot sustain a constant influx & support of illegals especially when we are facing many budget constraints. Why is money being cut for museums & the arts while we still shell out benefits for illegals. Our politicians have their priorities wrong & they need to cut the benefits to illegals first before ever touching a program that could affect any sort of educational benefit that Virginia citizens enjoy & learn.