Va. seeks U.S. OK for troopers in immigration cases

Credit: P. KEVIN MORLEY/TIMES-DISPATCH

Gov. Bob McDonnell has been talking with federal officials about the role of state police troopers.

By: Olympia Meola | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: August 12, 2010

Gov. Bob McDonnell this week formally requested that the Department of Homeland Security authorize some Virginia State Police troopers to perform functions of federal immigration officers.

The request, which was sent in a letter dated Aug. 10 to Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, follows conversations since February on the subject between McDonnell's administration and federal authorities.

McDonnell is requesting that homeland security enters into a so-called 287g agreement with the state, a pact that at least seven jurisdictions in Virginia already have in some form.

"The [memorandum of understanding] would include how participating State Police personnel will be nominated, trained, authorized and supervised in performing the immigration enforcement functions specified in the agreement," McDonnell writes in the letter released today by his office.

"We contemplate addressing those aliens who are engaged in major drug offenses or violent offenses such as murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and kidnapping, as well as DUI offenses."

Currently, state police policy gives troopers the option of asking about immigration status when it is relevant to a criminal investigation.

In a statement accompanying the letter, McDonnell said, "A partnership of this nature will serve to improve public safety, while providing more resources to an underfunded and understaffed federal agency in the fight against criminal illegal immigration."

McDonnell disclosed his efforts to secure a statewide agreement earlier this month, when asked to comment on a recent opinion from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that police in Virginia may inquire about the immigration status of people they stop or arrest.

McDonnell said Cuccinelli's opinion generally tracked one he issued as attorney general in 2007.

Cuccinelli said Virginia law-enforcement officers have the discretion to make such inquiries, as long as they have "the requisite level of suspicion" to believe that a person has committed a federal crime. The authority does not extend to civil immigration violations.

Under current state law, law-enforcement officials are required to check the immigration status of a person taken to jail for another suspected crime.

Va. seeks U.S. OK for troopers in immigration cases

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