Virginia police officer suspended after turning suspected illegal immigrant over to ICE
Dan Ferguson, whose daughter was killed by an illegal immigrant, reacts.
A father who lost his daughter in a hit-and-run accident involving an illegal immigrant expressed outrage Thursday over the suspension of a Virginia police officer for cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“How can anybody justify a city or police chief to suspend an officer for following the federal law?” Dan Ferguson told “Fox & Friends First.”
The officer was suspended after turning over a suspected undocumented immigrant to ICE following a traffic accident last month. Ferguson said, however, that the officer “did the right thing” and is “a hero.”
VIRGINIA POLICE OFFICER SUSPENDED AFTER TURNING IN SUSPECTED UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT OVER TO ICE
The Fairfax County Police Department enacted a 2007 policy that prohibits officers from confirming a person's immigration status and detaining them solely based on civil violations of immigration law.
“This is an unfortunate issue where the officer was confused,” Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. 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.”
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Ferguson said the officer did the right thing.
“Confused about the federal law? I don’t think so. I think these sanctuary cities, they overlook this law to protect these people," Ferguson said in response to Roessler's statement.
The driver was released from federal custody after three hours and ordered to wear an ankle monitor. Roessler apologized for the incident and ordered an internal investigation upon learning of it.
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The officer involved has been on the job for a few years, Roessler told The Washington Post. He added that the officer did not willfully violate the department's policy with respect to cooperating with immigration officials.
He said the officer will undergo remedial training.
Ferguson's daughter, Amanda Weyant-Ferguson, a 28-year-old sixth-grade teacher in El Paso, Texas, was killed last November.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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