State to investigate relationship of crime, illegal immigration
By Gillian Gaynair, The Virginian-Pilot
RICHMOND – In an effort to better understand how illegal immigration affects the state’s criminal justice system, the Virginia State Crime Commission announced Monday that it will establish a 16-member task force to study the issue.
Among the goals of the group will be to examine crimes by and against illegal immigrants in Virginia and determine the financial effe ct of such crimes on the system and what the state and local government can do.
“Our intent is to define the scope of the problem and try to define where we can be effective ” in protecting citizens, said Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, the crime commission’s chairman.
Stolle said task force members, who have not yet been selected, will include representatives from law enforcement, the labor industry and immigrant communities.
More than 12 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, according to a 2006 Pew Hispanic Center report. Nearly 45 percent of them entered the country legally with visas but remained here after their visas expired. A smaller percentage came to the United States from Mexico legally using a Border Crossing Card and then violated its terms.
Of the remaining unauthorized population, roughly more than half entered the country illegally.
Based on 2005 population numbers, Virginia is home to about 250,000 to 300,000 illegal immigrants, according to the Pew report.
About 50 immigration-related bills were introduced during the 2007 General Assembly.
Believed to be a record number, it reflected a nationwide trend in which state lawmakers, frustrated with the federal government’s inaction on immigration reform, are taking the issue into their own hands.
“And each year, we still have almost no facts to base our decision upon,” Stolle said.
Of the few bills that passed both houses this year, one is a measure to establish an advisory commission to examine how immigration – both legal and illegal – has affected education, health care, law enforcement and other areas.
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