Immigration Training for Manassas Moves Ahead

"A controversial proposal to train Manassas [VA] police officers to enforce some federal immigration laws was amended yesterday, with the City Council recommending that regional jail staffers undertake that duty instead. The vote cooled a tense dispute between the city's police chief, John J. Skinner, and council member Jackson H. Miller, the Republican candidate for the 50th District seat in the House of Delegates, who is running on an anti-illegal immigration platform," the Washington Post reports. "The ICE program, Section 287 (g), allows local police to set the terms of their cooperation with the federal agency, then receive training in immigration enforcement. Officers are then able to detain and process illegal immigrant offenders before delivering them to federal authorities, streamlining the deportation process. But because suspects caught in Manassas, Manassas Park and Prince William are processed through the county Adult Detention Center, top police officials from the three jurisdictions resisted the proposal to train the officers and urged training for jail staff instead."

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