Prince William lawmaker's immigration bill moves out of subcommittee

Del. Jackson H. Miller, R-50th, recently got one of his illegal immigration bills through a house subcommittee.

HB 1934 would allow state police to enforce immigration law under Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) program.

The bill is now headed for the full Committee for Courts of Justice.

If it passes there, it will go to the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates. 

Once bills pass the House of Delegates, for instance, they go  to committees in the Senate. If they pass the Senate committees, where they can be altered, they are  sent to the Senate floor for passage. Bills that pass the Senate must be reconciled with the bills from the House before they go to the governor’s desk for signature or veto.

The process is mirrored in the Senate.

Opponents of Miller’s bill cite cost and burdening the state police with additional duties as factors in their opposition.

Del. Patrick A. Hope, D-47th, voted against the bill in the subcommittee along with Del. Vivian E. Watts, D-39th.

Hope said a study done in 2007 showed that there would be significant cost associated with adopting the 287(g) Program.

He also said state police would have to shift from their core duties of  “law enforcement and protecting people” to enforce immigration law.

“Those duties would have to be shifted. They would have to be doing less of those in order to work on those new responsibilities,” Hope said.

Miller said the 287(g) program is set up to protect people from “dangerous criminals who are illegal aliens.”

Miller, who pushed getting the 287(g) program in the Prince William-Manassas regional jail during his term on the Manassas City Council between 2004 and 2006, said the program has worked “very well” in Prince William County.

“It doesn’t take away from what the police are doing. It’s what the police should be doing. It’s them helping remove dangerous criminals from our community,” Miller said.

Hope said the bill would amount to an unfunded mandate on the state police.

“In this kind of budget environment, they couldn’t put more money to the state police. Can’t afford it, so you’re going to have to do one or the other,” he said.

Miller said it’s a question of public safety which he said was the “number one, primary role of government.”

“Public safety has always cost a lot of money, but it’s well worth the money,”  Miller said. “The costs aren’t that excessive.”

Miller said he believes the bill has bipartisan public support.

“It’s not going after day laborers. It’s not going after restaurant workers. It’s allowing local police to help get rid of dangerous criminal illegal aliens,” he said.

Nine other house bills regarding illegal immigration were also reported out of the subcommittee.

They would require that parents registering children in public schools disclose their citizenship or immigration status; restrict government employees from limiting the enforcement of immigration laws and require sheriffs’ deputies to query the legal status of people who are booked into jail.

One bill seeking to amend the Virginia Constitution would make illegal immigrants ineligible to enroll in Virginia universities and colleges.

Other house bills would require departments of social services verify an applicant’s legal standing before issuing benefits; require the Department of Motor Vehicles to cancel any license, permit or identification card if they determine that the person holding the card is an illegal immigrant; require public contractors with 15 or more employees to enroll in the E-Verify Program by Dec. 1 and require that state agencies include a provision in every contract of more than $50,000 requiring the contractor to use the E-Verify program  to determine its employees’ legal status.

A final bill would award contracts —  in the case of  a tie bid — to companies that use the E-Verify program.

Senior reporter Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.