A police officer in Fairfax County, Virginia was suspended this week for (drumroll, please) … assisting the federal government in enforcing our nation’s immigration law. The county has been a “sanctuary” jurisdiction since May 2018 – which means that it severely limits its cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Like the almost 600 other sanctuary jurisdictions in the nation, Fairfax County has chosen to undermine federal immigration enforcement at the expense of its law-abiding citizens.
Following a public outcry – including stinging rebukes from acting ICE director Matthew T. Albence and former acting ICE director Tom Homan – the Fairfax County Police Chief cancelled the affected officer’s suspension and restored him to his duties. The Northern Virginia county, which neighbors the nation’s capital, nevertheless remains a “sanctuary” for illegal aliens.
The officer in question responded to a traffic accident near the intersection of Harrison Lane and South Kings Highway in Alexandria on Saturday, September 21. He quickly learned that one of the drivers did not have a driver’s license, and, upon checking his personal information, found out that the individual was an illegal alien for whom ICE had issued a fugitive warrant after he failed to appear for a deportation hearing.
The policeman promptly contacted the ICE officer listed on the warrant, handing the illegal alien over to him when the ICE agent arrived on the scene. The unauthorized foreign national was released by ICE three hours later (and issued an ankle monitor).
For his action – a routine case of aiding another agency – the police officer was subsequently punished. The Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. suspended the officer for “unacceptable” behavior violating department policy and for “depriving a person of their freedom” by cooperating with ICE, a federal law enforcement agency.
Of course, the alien didn’t have any lawful right to be in the United States and had absconded, rather than appearing for a removal hearing. He therefore had no right to freedom from detention in the first place.
Roessler’s statement chastising the officer further asserted that “our county is one of the most diverse counties in the nation and no one should have the perception that FCPD is acting as a civil immigration agent for ICE. This matter damages our reputation and the longstanding policy that I have stated many times that our officers shall not act as immigration agents. (…) It is my duty to enforce our FCPD – and Fairfax County – policies and hold all accountable for their actions.”
It is unclear what the “diversity” of Fairfax County – or any county within the U.S. for that matter – has to do with the issue at hand. The United States is a nation of laws, which apply equally to everyone, regardless of their ethnic or racial background. “Illegal alien” is a legal category – a foreign national in the country unlawfully and subject to removal – and not an ethnic, racial, or religious one. Furthermore, Fairfax County is not an independent entity, and its policies and rules do not trump federal immigration law.
The bottom line is this: Fairfax County is putting the interests of illegal aliens – people who have no legal right to be in the county (or the country) – ahead of citizens and legal immigrant residents. And it is willing to interfere with the careers of law-abiding county employees in order to do so. If Fairfax County continues to pursue this misguided policy it may well share the fate of Montgomery County, across the Potomac River in Maryland, whose sanctuary policies facilitated a recent illegal alien crime wave – a crime wave that would have been completely avoidable had the county cooperated with ICE.
9 Comments
Common sense, religious, law abiding citizens are vilified as being “racist” by the left for not supporting their ultra liberal, anti American rhetoric which undermines the true values of the country’s citizenry.
Unbelievable!, The Supervising Authority that ordered the suspension should be arrested too for Conspiracy and treason against the Government of the United States. What has happened to our great country? I’m not sure if I even want to live here anymore. And what really gets me is that the illegals don’t even like it here. Instead of adapting to our culture, they do everything they can to make it just like the place they just left.
I have lived in Fairfax County since 1982 and have watched it spiral down the toilet. Illegal immigration has turned this once wonderful area to a second or third rate entity. It has gone so far left that the local Dem politicians in my district routinely run unopposed. It is the land of Gerry Connolly….enough said.
Correction….since 1992.
Sanctuary Cities/Counties are a slap in the face of every law abiding citizen in the country. Those who protect illegal aliens, especially the criminals, should themselves be subjects of prosecution and punishment. We must protect our sovereignty at all costs.
Fairfax county,Virginia, is that part of the USA? Or Mexico?
Its Racist to Call All White Males Racist
Dems= Don’t Employ Males
“Diverse” is the new goal to be achieved at all costs, including the huge monetary costs of our present immigration system. Legal and illegal immigrants are on social welfare programs at rates far above American born citizens. Those welfare costs frequently continue into the next couple generations at very high rates.
Try and find a Democratic politician in California who is not just bubbling over with enthusiasm about what an asset immigrants are. Never mind the state’s sky high taxes, freeways at a standstill, unaffordable housing, huge welfare programs, and the fact that immigration has essentially ruined what used to be the country’s best school system. Immigration has made everyone of those problems worse. 40 and 50 years ago Los Angeles was an example of how a big city could still be clean and livable. Now there are 50.000 homeless on the streets with all the resulting filth that brings, and they want the feds to help with that. But there is no amount they won’t spend on illegals.
Diversity is fine as a by product. As an unquestioned goal, it’s nonsense. A lot of Europeans are on the diversity bandwagon. Sweden for one, and it has produced entire neighborhoods where the police only go in as a force because they get attacked. But don’t ever suggest that some country like Mexico needs more diversity. That’s racist. But in fact their constitution mandates that immigrants should be compatible with the predominate culture.
Pingback: The Bizarro World of Sanctuary Jurisdictions: Fairfax County, Virginia – The Importance of Business