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.
And, according to the newspaper, officials in Virginia are frustrated that ICE will not have the resources to handle all the reports made to the federal agency.
The effectiveness of the Virginia law will depend largely on ICE, James O. Towey, the executive director of the Virginia State Crime Commission, told the newspaper. “Whether ICE comes and gets them and ultimately deports them is a matter that is beyond our control,” he said.
The new Virginia law is a recent example of how states are targeting illegal immigrants. Other states, including Oklahoma and Arizona, have enacted laws requiring employers to check the immigration status of employees using a federal database know as e-Verify.
As lawmakers nationwide debate legislation related to immigration issues, law enforcement officials are urging them to consider the effects such policy will have on policing their communities. Learn about the challenges some states face in enforcing immigration laws in this Trends in America brief. You can also learn about challenges states are facing as their laws are challenged in court in this April State News article, Up for a Fight.
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