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Virginia Attorney General Concludes State Law Enforcement Officials May Inquire Into Immigration Status
In an advisory opinion, Virginia Attorney General concluded that Virginia state law enforcement officials may inquire into the immigration status of a person who is stopped or arrested. The advisory opinion was provided in response to a request from Del. Bob Marshall, who posed the following question:
"Whether Virginia law enforcement officers, under present state law, may conduct investigations into the immigration status of persons stopped or arrested by law enforcement and, specifically, whether Virginia officials presently have the same authority as Arizona officers under a recently enacted Arizona statute [AZ SB 1070], and, further, whether that authority extends to Virginia state park personnel and local zoning officials."
It is important to note that although state law enforcement officials may ask about an individual's immigration status, the authority to do so has its limitations. Specifically:
- Only persons who have been, "lawfully stopped, detained, or arrested in connection with the enforcement of some law other than immigration law," may be subject to inquiry; and
- Only state law enforcement officers may ask about a person's immigration status. According to the opinion, local zoning officials are not state law enforcement officers.
Equally important, the opinion issued today reinforced a 2007 opinion issued by the Attorney General which concluded that absent, "an agreement between the federal government and a state or local law enforcement agency authorizing arrests for civil, as opposed to criminal, violations of immigration laws, known as a §287(g) agreement, state officers should refrain from making arrests for civil violations until the law is clarified. There has been no clarification or change in the law since that opinion was issued that would suggest a different conclusion at the present time." [emphasis added]
Categories: Immigration Law
