Arlington’s quest to opt out of the Secure Communities immigration enforcement program has hit a brick wall. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton tells the Associated Press that local governments cannot withdraw from Secure Communities, because the program is between states and the federal government.
Secure Communities checks the immigration status of those booked into local jails by comparing fingerprints sent to the FBI’s criminal database to an ICE immigration database. Because the fingerprints are first sent to the state, which then sends them to the FBI, local communities can’t opt out, Morton said.
He also dispelled the notion that Secure Communities forces local police departments to enforce immigration laws.
“No one in the Department of Corrections, no one in Arlington County, no one in the other jurisdictions of Virginia is being asked to enforce federal immigration law,” Morton told the AP. (That, despite this press release announcing the successful conclusion of a joint local, state and federal immigration enforcement operation in Virginia last week. Morton himself traveled to Richmond to join Gov. Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in announcing deportation proceedings against 13 immigrants convicted of sex crimes in Virgina.)
On Thursday, Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan sent a letter to Morton asking for clarification on whether Arlington can withdraw from Secure Communities. Morton says he’ll meet with individual localities to discuss the issue.
So far, federal authorities say Secure Communities has helped facilitate the removal of 40,000 criminal illegal immigrants.
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St. Charles offers a play-based curriculum in a welcoming, Christ-centered environment.
Our program focuses on socio-emotional development and kindergarten readiness through hands-on and engaging activities. Our programs offer different schedules ranging from 7:30 am-5:30 pm for students, ages 2-5. We feature a full-day Jr. kindergarten class for older 4’s/5’s. Our facility includes a full-sized gymnasium, school chapel, and library. All of our students enjoy music and physical education weekly. Children have an opportunity to participate in enrichment classes such as soccer, basketball, ballet, and science.
We offer Summer Camp with weekly themes and twice a week water play, including Fun Friday moon bounce. Please join us for our Open House Feb. 3 at 9:30 am and 11:00 am. Click here to sign-up.
For more information or to schedule a tour, visit us at www.stcharlesarlington.org or call (703) 527-0608.
If you are a lifelong learner over 50+ who wants to make new friends, power up your brain, and enjoy a wide-variety college-level courses, Encore Learning is for you. An Arlington based nonprofit, Encore Learning offers courses in the arts, theater, literature, history, technology and more. This semester we offer our most popular course, Global Hot Spots as well as 25 new courses. Courses are presented either online or in-person at George Mason University at Virginia Square and other Arlington locations.
Join the free presentation to learn about courses and meet the instructors. This is Encore Learning’s signature event to highlight the upcoming semester with brief presentations by each instructor.
The Spring Course Preview event is Thursday, February 2nd at 9:30 AM via Zoom:
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