At the board’s behest, Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan sent a letter to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton yesterday, seeking clarification on whether Arlington can withdraw from the Secure Communities program, and, if it can, how it may do so.
“We need to ask him to clarify this conflicting information we’ve been getting,” county board member Walter Tejada said in a telephone interview last night. He was referring to a recent Washington Post article that suggested communities will not be able to opt-out of the immigration enforcement initiative, as the county board had been led to believe.
“Once we have that clarification, and we better understand what else we need to be asking, we’re going to go from there,” Tejada said.
The board’s effort to opt-out of Secure Communities received a public endorsement this week when the New York Times ran an editorial calling on the Obama administration to accomodate the request. San Francisco, Santa Clara, Ca. and the District have also expressed interest in opting out of the program.
“Washington needs to find a way to allow cities like San Francisco and Washington to enforce the law without turning into a branch of ICE,” the Times said.
Also this week, County Board Vice Chairman Chris Zimmerman came out strongly in favor of withdrawing from Secure Communities while speaking at Wednesday’s Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting.
“This is the practical effect of an anti-immigrant policy masquerading as a crime issue,” Zimmerman said of Secure Communities, which has helped the federal government deport a record number of illegal immigrants over the past year. He said the Obama administration-endorsed policy “challenges our commitment to our core beliefs” and “make[s] our communities less secure.”
Tejada, who championed the resolution calling for Arlington to opt-out of Secure Communities, said the program actually hinders law enforcement by causing the immigrant community to disengage from public authorities.
“We’ve had a long, successful history of community policing,” he said. “We want to maintain that trust between the community and the police… so we can continue to report crimes and so people who are victims of crimes can step forward and report it.”
Mark Kelly, the Republican who is trying to unseat Zimmerman on the county board next month, said last week’s unannounced vote on the Secure Communities resolution did not receive the proper public scrutiny.
“That’s not the Arlington Way,” he told the Sun Gazette.
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At Generation Hope, we’re dedicated to supporting teen parents in college as they work toward earning their degrees. We are in need of caring child care volunteers for upcoming events on Saturday, October 21st (in Washington, DC), and Saturday, November 4th (in Arlington, VA). Join our growing volunteer community and support us at an event this fall!
At all of our events, we provide free onsite child care for the children of the teen parents we serve, creating a nurturing environment for the kiddos while their parents learn valuable life skills and build community.
If you enjoy working with children and are looking to make an immediate impact in your community, please visit https://www.generationhope.org/volunteer to learn more.

Join us for Arlington’s biggest civil rights & social justice event of the year. The banquet is back in person at the Arlington Campus of George Mason University.
Our keynote speaker this year is Symone Sanders from MSNBC and former Chief of Staff for Vice-President Kamala Harris.
The Master of Ceremonies is Joshua Cole, former state delegate, NAACP President, and local pastor.
Tickets/seating are limited. Purchase your ticket today! Sponsorship opportunities available.
Standup Comedy Showcase Starring John F. O’Donnell (Comedy Central)
Live standup comedy starring John F. O’Donnell (Comedy Central)
Friday, October 20
Headliner: John F. O’Donnell
John was a correspondent on the radical comedy news TV show, “Redacted Tonight,” for 5 years. Recently, he released his debut one-hour standup special,
Arlington Metaphysical Chapel Presents METAPHEST, October 14-15, 2023
Workshops on: ~ Meditation ~ Intro to Tarot: The Aces and Major Arcana
~ Ageless Aging ~ Past Life Regression ~ Animal Communication and Healing
~ Psychometry ~ Spiritual Healing ~ Self Soul Love ~ Consciously Clearing Clutter ~ Awareness/Mindfulness/Consciousness.