Updated

Herndon, Va., police officers could soon get the training needed to help them enforce federal immigration laws.

Police Chief Toussaint Summers said Wednesday the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement has approved his request to work out an agreement that will allow his officers to exercise some federal authority.

A written agreement between the federal agency and local officials will be worked out after the town council holds a public hearing on the proposal.

Summers said once that's approved, two senior special agents from ICE will be assigned to work with Herndon police on immigration law enforcement.

Summers has been expressing interest in working with federal authorities on the immigration issue for months. He send a letter offering his department's help to federal officials last September.

Last year, the mayor and all but one of the six-person Herndon City Council were voted out of office for their support of a taxpayer-funded day laborer site for illegals.