Capitol Comments

Law Requires Virginia Jails to Report Foreign Inmates

In Virginia, jail officials are now required to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of all inmates not born in the U.S., regardless of their immigration status, according to The Washington Post.

The law became effective July 1 and aims to keep tabs on illegal immigrants charged with crimes, the newspaper reports.

According to ICE statistics given to the Virginia State Crime Commission, during the 2007 fiscal year, law enforcement agencies in the state made 12,073 reports to the federal agency—and those reports resulted in 694 detainers, according to The Washington Post. That’s nearly 6 percent of all the suspected illegal immigrants reported.

Revisiting Immigration in Oklahoma

Oklahoma Lawmaker Plans Follow-up to State Immigration Law

After Oklahoma’s House Bill 1804 was passed in 2007, the state immigration law became the center of multiple court cases challenging its constitutionality. And although some of those lawsuits were dismissed, other lawsuits are still pending.

Even though H.B. 1804 might strike some as controversial, the bill’s author, Oklahoma Rep. Randy Terrill, plans a follow-up legislative effort, building on 1804. He’s nicknamed the effort, “Son of 1804.”

The attorney turned college professor said as important as the bill was, “we have some unfinished business.”