By Diane Burkley Alejandro: Starting July 1, Fairfax Sheriff Stacey Kincaid is taking another step toward non-cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As permitted by a new Virginia law, she says she will no longer collect citizenship and immigration status information for persons booked for misdemeanors.
By Diane Burkley Alejandro: After this year’s elections, Fairfax County may finally have a board of supervisors ready to stop voluntary cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has made our region a national leader in deportations. This would benefit not only immigrant families, but our community as a whole, as crime is statistically significantly lower in jurisdictions…
By Diane Burkley Alejandro: There is a family separation crisis right here in Fairfax County. The nation was rightfully shocked when 2,600 children were separated from migrant families crossing the border. Why then isn’t the Fairfax Board of Supervisors incensed that 12,037 Fairfax immigrant families have been torn apart by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—and that Fairfax law enforcement, working…
By Brad Swanson: The Fairfax County School Board endorsed a new policy Thursday that limits the role of police officers in schools and that restricts, but does not completely bar, cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The board heard moving pleas from Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) students and former students to prohibit immigration agents from entering school grounds or obtaining…
By Diane Burkley Alejandro: Fairfax County is poised to improve its policy governing law enforcement in schools significantly, but the current draft fails to protect immigrant students, and must be changed. The matter is urgent because the policy on deployment of armed police School Resource Officers (SROs) to all public middle and high schools in the county is being considered…
By Matthew Dunne: The policy governing roles and responsibilities of armed police officers who patrol the hallways of every public middle and high school in Fairfax County is about to be improved, after a community panel submitted more than 50 pages of comments in a wide-ranging review. Although universal agreement was not reached, the policy review, the first in several…
By Brad Swanson: What should be the role of cops in schools? Should armed police officers even be allowed in schools? These were among the issues that rose to the surface in a tense meeting Monday night of a community group charged with reviewing the terms under which police officers are assigned to high schools and middle schools throughout the…
By Brad Swanson: Fairfax County could cut the arrests of undocumented immigrants from its jail by more than 90% by refusing to cooperate with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to a panel of immigration experts who spoke Wednesday night at a public forum. The experts noted that Fairfax County police and Sheriff’s Office are not legally required…