Delegate Calls for Local Action in Immigration Reform

Delegate Jackson Miller (R-Manassas) went before the General Assembly in Richmond Monday, calling for more action on the state and local level in deporting criminal illegal aliens.

His statement came just days after a criminal illegal alien went on a shooting and knifing spree in Manassas, killing three and wounding three more.

Jose Reyes-Alfaro had been ordered deported by a federal judge in 2001 but was never sent back to his home country of El Salvador, despite being arrested by local authorities in 2004 and 2008.

When asked how Reyes-Alfaro managed to fly under the radar for so long, Manassas City Chief Doug Keen said at a press conference Friday that falls into the hands of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and its ability to update information in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) to be ran against possible suspects at a local level.

“We can no longer place the blame on the federal government…we already know that the federal government has failed us when it comes to immigration reform,” Miller told members of the assembly.

Miller thanked the 80 members of the assembly who recently supported House Bill 1934 that  allows local police to work with the federal government by putting detainers on criminal illegal aliens.

Miller also addressed opponents of the bill: I hope that one day you will see this bill as not “picking on immigrants” or targeting day labors, but a bill that addresses illegal aliens. 

Miller's HB 1934 was passed by a house subcommittee and is now slated to go before the Committee for Courts of Justice for consideration.

During his speech, which lasted just under 10 minutes, Miller sited several incidents in the state of Virginia where a criminal illegal alien went on to commit a heinous act of violence despite one or more previous run-ins with local authorities.

Two of those referenced incidents happened in Manassas and one in nearby Woodbridge.

Last summer, a nun was killed in Prince William County when an illegal criminal alien with multiple DUI arrests hit the car she was riding in, killing her instantly. The Washington Examiner reported the accused had been ordered deported by federal authorities who were notified following at least one of his arrests. Still, the accused was never deported.

And last November, a 15-year-old boy was attacked by members of the gang MS13 in broad daylight as he walked home from Osbourn High School. MS13 is known to be supported and operated by illegal criminal aliens, Miller said.

Miller said it is up to the state and local governments to do a better job of "screening  everyone they arrest" and working with the federal authorities to make sure appropriate action is taken and “to take up the slack where the federal government has failed.”

Video: See Miller’s full General Assembly Address in attached YouTube video.

Video: See Miller's interview on Fox & Friends