Virginia recently passed a law that will take effect July 1 permitting police to arrest any illegal immigrant who previously had been convicted of a felony and deported. This is an effort to help combat gangs and terrorism as the illegal population has surged in Virginia.  While most police departments have embraced this new law, one county has not.

Arlington, where 28% of the population is foreign born, has reacted to the law by saying they will ignore it.  The current policy in Arlington forbids the police from conducting immigration related investigations.  It also discourages officers from checking the immgration status of suspects.  Arlington County Board Chairman Barbara Favola said “It isn’t my job”.  She said that the federal government has the responsibility to enforce immigration laws.  This is great news for illegal aliens.  They can come to Arlington and be assured that they will not get arrested based on their immigration status.  Maybe once, the law takes effect and the surrounding jurisdictions start arresting illegal aliens they will move in droves to Arlington, bringing with the potential for more gang and terrorist activity.  Then let’s see what county officials do next.

Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised at the reaction to this law by officials in Arlington.  After all this is the same area that is represented by Jim Moran who is a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq and has said “If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this.  The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going, and I think they should”
While Moran has since apologized for those remarks, they reflect the mindset of elected officials that just don’t get it.  Maybe Arlington should rename itself Berkeley. 

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