Fairfax Co., Virginia officer suspended for turning driver over to ICE after accident, police say

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Officer suspended for turning driver over to ICE after accident, police say

By Justin Jouvenal
Oct. 1, 2019 at 5:37 p.m. EDT

A Fairfax County police officer has been suspended for allegedly detaining a driver involved in a traffic accident and turning the person over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after discovering the individual had an immigration violation, the department announced Tuesday.

Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. apologized for the incident, saying the unnamed officer apparently violated the department’s long-standing policy against performing civil immigration enforcement for ICE. An investigation was underway.

The incident comes as immigrant communities in Fairfax County and across the nation are on edge amid stepped-up immigration enforcement by the Trump administration. Many liberal jurisdictions such as Fairfax County have sought to limit their cooperation with ICE amid anger over the president’s policies.

“This is an unfortunate issue where the officer was confused,” Roessler said. “We have trained on this issue a lot. This is the first time we’ve had a lapse in judgment, and the officer is being punished.”

Police said the incident began when the officer was called to a traffic accident in the Groveton area the afternoon of Sept. 21. The officer discovered that one of the drivers did not have a Virginia driver’s license and obtained the person’s information to run a check with the Department of Motor Vehicles, police said.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/fairfax-county-officer-suspended-for-turning-driver-over-to-ice-after-accident-police-say/2019/10/01/ff4a161e-e46b-11e9-b403-f738899982d2_story.html

[DBoon]

1. So the next time there is an accident, the driver with uncertain immigration status will flee

Now there will be an increase in hit and run accidents.