Arlington County, Virginia, apparently hopes to join other like-minded jurisdictions and become a defendant in a Supremacy Clause lawsuit from the federal Justice Department (DOJ).
On Tuesday, the county board banned cops from reporting to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) any arrest of an illegal-alien criminal, including MS-13 terror gang members.
Upshot: The far-left county will protect the gang member from arrest and deportation. Aside from a Supremacy Clause lawsuit, another possible result is federal indictments for harboring illegal aliens.
Arlington Board: Terror Gang Members Welcome
Led by far-left Greek immigrant Takis Karantonis, the five-member board voted on Tuesday to block the county cops from helping ICE — on anything.
Thus, ABC affiliate WJLA reported, the cops will no longer report to ICE the following:
- An illegal-alien terror gang member “wanted or arrested for a violent felony or a criminal street gang offense;”
- An illegal alien who is “arrested for a felony offense or is a confirmed gang member;” or,
- An illegal alien ”arrested for a terrorism or human trafficking offense.”
The vote was unanimous, which isn’t surprising. Arlington has long been a far-left enclave of anti-American, anti-Christian leftists.
The board voted to block the cooperation with ICE because it claimed, “without providing data,” WJLA reported, “that immigrant communities are reporting fewer crimes.”
The vote amended the county’s pro-illegal alien “Trust Policy,” which “effectively eliminates the instances in which [Arlington County police] can initiate contact with ICE regarding immigration enforcement,” the county’s website says.
“We are not going to allow anymore that our law enforcement proactively contacts the federal government, the federal government immigration authorities, on any issue,” Karantonis told WJLA. In his official statement at the county website, Karantonis averred that “breaking the law is still breaking the law. This decision does not change that, and if a crime is committed, law enforcement will respond.”
But “law enforcement” won’t notify ICE if they arrest an illegal-alien serial rapist, mass murderer, or terror gang member.
Erosion of “Due Process”?
The decision to nix cooperation with ICE “comes in the wake of the federal administration’s ongoing erosion of the constitutional right to due process, which every person has regardless of their status,” the Greek immigrant said:
The rhetoric and actions of this administration have led to tremendous stress and fear in our community, and we want to make sure all residents feel safe in engaging with local government, particularly with local law enforcement.
“We’ve seen this time and again throughout the nation,“ Russell Hott, director of ICE’s Washington offices for Enforcement and Removal Operations, told WJLA. “Communities that do take this kind of approach end up being magnets for the individuals that are looking for refuge in spite of their criminal and illicit activity. Overall, that is something that puts the community members at risk.”
Despite that, Karantonis emphatically told WJLA that no crime by an illegal alien could or would alter county policy. Even if Arlington became a “magnet” for illegal-alien terror gang members, nothing would change, he said.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin called the board members’ vote “dereliction of duty and a betrayal of the oath they swore to protect their constituents.” Not that the county board cares about his opinion.
“At what point did protecting violent illegal immigrants become more important than protecting your constituents?” Youngkin asked.
Lawsuit Coming?
The action might well invite a lawsuit from DOJ. It has already sued several jurisdictions — Denver and the state of Colorado, New York City and state, and Chicago, Cook County, and the state of Illinois — to overturn sanctuary laws and policies that trespass the Supremacy Clause of the federal Constitution.
It says that “this Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof … shall be the supreme Law of the Land … any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”
The lawsuit might also cite the federal statute that forbids states and localities from not sharing “information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.”
And not sharing information might also invite federal charges against local officials for harboring illegal aliens. Border czar Tom Homan has repeatedly warned about that prospect.
The law penalizes “any person” who knowingly “conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such [illegal] alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has warned state and local officials to “get ready” for lawsuits.
And on January 21, President Donald Trump’s first day in office, Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sternly warned states and localities not to interfere with federal immigration enforcement.
The Supremacy Clause means that state and local officials must “comply with the Executive Branch’s [constitutional] immigration enforcement initiatives,” he wrote in a memorandum to DOJ employees:
Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests pursuant to, for example, the President’s extensive Article II authority with respect to foreign affairs and national security, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Alien Enemies Act.
U.S. attorneys will investigate “for potential prosecution” stubborn far-left officials who defy the law, Bove wrote. That would include harboring illegals, conspiracy against the United States, and violating the Immigration and Nationality Act, which criminalizes blocking the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
