Are the suburban counties inviting terrorists?

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

An official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said jurisdictions that fail to check the immigration status of people receiving tax-funded rent subsidies are opening the door to terrorists.

"Those are the vulnerabilities that people have exploited in the past to commit acts of terrorism," said ICE spokesman Garrison K. Courtney.

The Washington Times first reported last week that Arlington and Montgomery counties are the only jurisdictions in the metropolitan area that do not perform the immigration check, creating a loophole that allows illegal aliens to receive county rent assistance.

Officials in Montgomery and Arlington counties defended their hands-off policy, saying that catching illegal immigrants isn't their responsibility.

"It is the federal government's role to check the borders and monitor for illegal aliens. It isn't my job," said Barbara Favola, Democrat and chairman of the Arlington County Board.

Miss Favola also said an immigration check would be insulting to people seeking aid dollars. "We really work at developing a trust level with all our residents in Arlington," she said. "I want to be a friendly and welcoming place, period -- to anyone who comes within our borders."

A spokesman for Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan also said immigration enforcement was not the county's job. And he defended the county's commitment to the war on terrorism, noting that Montgomery County firefighters and emergency crews were among the first responders to the attacks on the Pentagon and to the anthrax mail attacks on Capitol Hill.

"I'm sure the official at [ICE] is not suggesting that we are not doing our part," said Duncan spokesman David S. Weaver. "We are full partners with the federal government to protect the homeland in the war against terror."

Still, he said that Mr. Duncan, a Democrat, prefers leaving immigration enforcement to federal authorities and concentrating local efforts on providing services to county residents. The county does not have the resources to also do ICE's job, he said.

"We are not in the immigration business," Mr. Weaver said. "If the federal immigration service needs more staff, they need to lobby Congress for more staff, not rely on local governments to do [the job]."