ACLU questions Loudon County's agreement with ICE

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Washington Post

June 21, 2008

Immigration Program Scrutinized

The American Civil Liberties Union raised concerns yesterday about an agreement that the Loudoun County sheriff has made with federal authorities to check the immigration status of all people arrested in the county who are suspected of being in the United States illegally.

The ACLU's Virginia chapter said it filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the sheriff's office, asking for records pertaining to the program.

On Tuesday, Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson (I) announced that he had reached agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to participate in the program, which ultimately seeks to deport illegal immigrants convicted of serious felonies.

Simpson said his deputies will not check suspects based solely on their ethnicity.

The ICE program, also used in Prince William County, Manassas, Manassas Park and Herndon, will begin in Loudoun this summer, Simpson said.

-- Bill Brubaker

for link to WP article click here

59 arrested in Virginia - call 866 341-3858 for info. on their whereabouts

Photo of Loudon detainees provided to the WP by ICE

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cover my face in shame
to lessen your fear
that I may swallow you whole
and leave no trace
of what you once thought was yours

cover my face in shame
for you
cannot admit
you have been unjust

and for my people
who have been
shamed with me


© by aughra, all rights reserved 2008
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59 Workers at Loudoun Resort Face Deportation

Immigration Officials Say Employees Used Fraudulent or Stolen Documents to Get Jobs

By Jonathan Mummolo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 13, 2008; C01

Fifty-nine foreign-born workers arrested last week at the Lansdowne Resort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are being processed for deportation, although some might request hearings to plead their cases, an ICE spokeswoman said.

The employees -- men and women from El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina -- were arrested Tuesday on charges of having used fraudulent or stolen documents to get jobs at the upscale resort on Woodridge Parkway near Leesburg.

Several calls to Lansdowne Resort officials last week were not returned. ICE spokeswoman Ernestine Fobbs declined to comment on whether ICE officials think the resort was aware of the document problems when it hired the workers. She said operators of the resort have cooperated with the federal agency since the investigation began in July.

"There's no criminal charges on the organization at this time . . . but this is an ongoing investigation," Fobbs said.

The probe was triggered by a "routine inspection of all I-9 employment forms at the resort," according to a written statement from ICE. "Through expert analysis of the I-9 forms, ICE agents identified information that led them to suspect that many of the employees were using fraudulent documents or had stolen someone else's identity to secure employment at the resort."

Many workers remained in custody in various jails last week, said Fobbs, who would not elaborate on the jail locations, citing "privacy reasons." ICE released two women Tuesday for medical reasons, but their cases continued to be processed, she said.

Fobbs said some of the workers will be deported immediately, and others might request a hearing with a judge, so the time it takes to process cases will vary.

"The removal process is just that: a process," she said. "Some may be subject to be removed from the United States immediately. Some may choose to go before an immigration judge. . . . It's like anything else. If you have a traffic violation, you can say, 'Wait, look, I have a reason for this.' "

Workers could be released early if they have children to look after, among other reasons, although they would be electronically monitored, and their ultimate fate would be determined by a judge, Fobbs said...

"They're terrified," said Elinor Tesfamariam, a lawyer with Immigration and Human Rights Law Group in Manassas, referring to relatives of those arrested. Her organization is working with the group Mexicans Without Borders to assist the detainees. "I have a man who is 70 years old" and in poor health at one of the jails, she said.

Other immigrant advocates said the process of locating those in custody has been difficult because ICE is not keeping them in a central location.

"Literally, people need to call each detention center to try to find people," said Kathy Doan, executive director of the Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition.

Fobbs said family members and friends looking for information on those in custody could call 866-341-3858.

for link to entire WP article click the title of this post

photo: http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/04/12/PH2008041200055.jpg

Fact vs. Fiction in Loudon Cnty VA

http://www.lavozloudoun.org/


A comment recently came in that we did not post because of its vulgar nature. The writer asked why a group in Texas was getting into the business of a California county. Our response: The same question could be asked about this post on Loudon Cnty. VA. -- Its important to take notice of advocacy movements in the U.S. - no matter what region. It gives hope and may influence other localities.--- Houston can do the same, as can Orange County, Chicago, New York, and Miami...

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Groups to Fight Crackdown on Immigrants
Activists Organize Against Board's Plans to Cut Off Services to People Without Legal Status
By Sandhya Somashekhar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 9, 2007; Page LZ01

Immigrant advocates and civil liberties activists in Loudoun County are developing plans to fight a proposed county crackdown on illegal immigrants, saying that they hope to dispel widely held misconceptions about the issue...

...Opponents ...say such measures will encourage racial profiling and engender fear among all immigrants, legal or not. The supervisors say their intent is not to scare legal immigrants but to protect county taxpayers from supporting those who are in the country -- and the county -- illegally.

Two of the groups leading the charge against the board's efforts are La Voz of Loudoun, a Hispanic outreach and advocacy nonprofit organization, and the Cascades-based Virginian Muslim Political Action Committee. Both are organizing events in the next few weeks to promote their cause.

La Voz is sponsoring an Aug. 16 panel discussion about undocumented residents and the issues they present for law enforcement and employers. The group's executive director, Laura Valle, said that the meeting will be strictly informational and that participants will not espouse any particular political viewpoint.

But she said she hopes that Loudoun residents attending the event, scheduled for 7 p.m. at Ida Lee Recreation Center in Leesburg, will come away with a better understanding of the complexities surrounding the immigration debate, including the nature of immigration status. She also hopes it will persuade supporters of tougher enforcement policies to "take all of this passion and redirect it back to the federal government, where it belongs..."

for complete article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/08/AR2007080800125.html