Prince William County Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) Chairman At-Large Corey A. Stewart protested the news that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will only extend their controversial illegal immigration enforcement policy, known as the 287(g) program, until Dec. 31, 2012.
Corey Stewart announced his disagreement with the decision of the DHS in two media releases, one posted on the BOCS government website and another on his personal campaign site.
In the press release posted on the Prince William government website, Stewart called the 287(g) program, a cooperation between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and local law enforcement departments, “a key element to the County’s Illegal Immigration Enforcement Policy, which has been recognized as a model program to identify and report criminal illegal immigrants without engaging in racial profiling.”
“We have a duty to protect our citizens and to make our community safe,” said Stewart. “If someone commits a crime and they are here illegally, they should be deported."
The press release reported that more than 5,000 criminals arrested in Prince William County are in the country illegally and were subsequently detained for ICE processing.
However, ICE defended the Obama’s Administration’s decision to eliminate the 287(g) program, as well as similar programs in place in Arizona. They believe the federal government should use Secure Communities to determine legal status on those illegal immigrants who commit crimes, according to a June 25 article in the Daily Beast.
However, the BOCS alleged, “Secure Communities is not as robust in determining legal status and does not allow local jurisdictions to issue detainers on those illegal immigrants who commit crimes.” Stewart further stated that the ICE was, “abdicating its responsibilities,” citing their non-response to the supervisors' FOIA request in conjunction with the decision to eliminate the 287(g) program.
Stewart also defended the policy on his own website. In an article, Stewart reported, “our violent crime rate is down by 48.7 percent, and I am convinced that this program was instrumental in that reduction.”
However, some believe the decision to rescind the 287(g) plan could be politically motivated by the pressures of the presidential election.
According to The Daily Beast, Arizona’s Latino and civil-rights leaders painted Republican candidate Mitt Romney as, “an immigration extremist, who sees Arizona’s immigration law, SB 1070, as a ‘model,'” during a rally in Phoenix, Arizona in June.
Then, in the midst of the immigration debate, the U.S. Supreme Court made public its decision to strike down three sections of the Arizona law, but let stand the section that allows Arizona police officers to question the immigration status of those they stop or detain, if they have responsible suspicion the person is in the country illegally.
It was only shortly after the Supreme Court ruling that the Obama Administration rescinded its 287(g) agreement with the Arizona police departments, leading Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to speak out.
However, in a June 25 article in CNN.com, the Obama Administration explained that when the U.S. Government must respond to the anti-illegal immigration policies in place in Arizona, it creates an imbalance in resources for the rest of the country.
Despite Corey Stewart’s belief that the anti-illegal immigration policy has been a success in reducing crime in the county, it does not diminish the extent to which it was an extreme step for a county government to take as almost all local governments leave the enforcement of illegal immigration to the federal government.
The Prince William County policy was also very controversial among Latino citizens, because many suspected it might lead to racial profiling of Latinos and the hassling of those residents who were in the country legally.
However, Stewart defends the record of the 287(g) program in Prince William, calling it a “model program," that does not discriminate. He cites studies conducted by University of Virginia, James Madison University and Police Executive Research Forum that depict the program as“appearing to be a reasonable way of targeting illegal immigrants who are serious offenders – a policy goal on which there is broad agreement,”
Support Bristow Beat - Donate Today!