Wanted: Local Enforcers of Immigration Law

Manassas City police don't want to do it. Neither do Prince William police. And so if there is to be any local enforcement of federal immigration law, authorities agreed, it will fall to the regional jail.

But should the jail do it? And if so, how will it work?

Jail officials will spend the next several weeks exploring whether and how to proceed with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement training, which would give staff members the power to initiate deportation proceedings for immigrants with criminal records.

Jail Superintendent Charles "Skip" Land will make a recommendation to the Prince William-Manassas Regional Jail Board, a 10-member body that oversees the detention center, on Jan. 17.

"There's just a lot more that we need to learn about, from both the process side and the administration side. What's step one, step two, step three?" jail board Chairman Patrick Hurd said.

He and other board members discussed the issue at their last meeting, on Dec. 20, a day after Prince William Police Chief Charlie T. Deane told the Board of County Supervisors that he believes the issue should be handled at the jail level, not by police. The same sentiment had been expressed months earlier by Manassas City Police Chief John J. Skinner.

Both chiefs cited concerns that enforcement by their departments might strain relations between the police and the immigrant community.

Ricardo Juarez, coordinator of the immigrant advocacy group Mexicans Without Borders, said he believes that will happen even if the jail takes on the enforcement. He said that in recent years the police have made great strides in the community, with many Latino immigrants saying they feel protected. But many do not understand the difference between police and jail officers, he said.

"People are afraid again," he told the jail board. "The fear is coming back."

Juarez was the only member of the public to attend the meeting.

Land said that he was aware of the risks in carrying out the program wrongly and that he agreed with Deane that "you can send a ripple of mistrust through the community."

He told the board that if the jail proceeds with training, he does not envision immigration checks being made on the person who is arrested for a traffic violation and posts bond within a few hours.