Ex-ICE Chief Unloads on Local PD After Cop Is Punished for Cooperating with Feds on Illegal Alien
Tom Homan doesn’t pull punches.
The former acting director of Immigration and Customs and Enforcement has proven that repeatedly in the media and on Capitol Hill, where he’s shown no hesitation about taking on Democrats on their home turf.
And he proved it again Wednesday on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” when he went after a Virginia police chief who suspended an officer for cooperating with ICE in the arrest of an illegal alien who had a warrant out for his arrest.
According to The Washington Post, the suspension announced Tuesday involved a Fairfax County police officer who responded to an accident on Sept. 21.
When he learned that one of the motorists involved did not have a driver’s license, the officer ran the information through the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, which turned up a warrant from ICE showing the individual had failed to appear for a deportation hearing, The Post reported.
After verifying the warrant, the officer contacted the ICE agent listed on it. That agent was apparently nearby and came to the scene. The illegal alien was placed in federal custody.
To most people, that probably sounds like a fairly routine event. Police officers take someone’s information, find out there’s a warrant for an arrest and make the arrest. Pretty textbook procedure.
But not in a liberal area like Fairfax County where, The Post reported, a policy in place since 2007 “has barred officers from confirming individuals’ immigration status and taking them into custody solely on civil violations of immigration law. Individuals who are accused of crimes and are arrested have their immigration status checked when they are booked at the county jail.”
On Wednesday, Fairfax police referred questions to a statement posted on the department’s Twitter page Tuesday. The statement notes that under the department’s general orders regarding arrest procedures involving an “OUTSTANDING ADMINISTRATIVE WARRANT OF REMOVAL,” the officer should not have verified the warrant or held the individual for ICE.
It might be worth noting here that Fairfax County is known as a base of operation for members of the brutal MS-13 gang, which includes a large number of illegal immigrants. In March, five members of the gang based in Fairfax were arrested in the savage murder of a 16-year-old who’d been stabbed more than 100 times in nearby Prince George’s County, Maryland.
But Fairfax cops shouldn’t be bothering illegal aliens, according to policy.
The Post reported that Fairfax County police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. apologized for the officer’s actions.
“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.”
On “Fox & Friends,” Homan wasn’t buying that at all.
“Here’s a police officer responding to a traffic accident caused by an illegal alien that has no driver’s license, has no insurance,” Homan said. “He ran him through the system. There’s an outstanding warrant from ICE because he’s in the country illegally. He’s a fugitive from justice because he didn’t show up in court.
“The cop was being a cop!”
Plenty of Twitter users responding to the Fairfax Police Department’s statement agreed.
Please thank that officer for me. He did the right thing. It’s disgraceful that he’s in trouble for following the LAW. Screw your “citizens last, illegal aliens first” policy.
— Respectable Username (@somethi79963647) October 2, 2019
Great so it looks like we have a Chief of Police who is pro criminal illegals. I pay taxes and you want to allow criminals in my neighborhood? Disgusting!
— Cathy (@nyctrumpette) October 2, 2019
This is a message to voters. The irrational rhetoric of the Democratic Party is becoming a dangerous reality. Stop voting for Democrats.
— Fred (@millerfred) October 1, 2019
Homan argued that if the warrant had involved any other branch of law enforcement, the officer’s actions would not have been questioned.
“If that warrant had been from the FBI or the DEA or from another county or another city, this wouldn’t be a story today. He would have been turned over,” he said.
“This is all because of the political theater of immigration enforcement,” Homan said. “And that chief, and that City Council, they’re politicians. Again, the community comes second, politics comes first.”
Tom Homan doesn’t pull any punches at all.
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