Hooray for Herndon!

Thanks in no small part to the efforts of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the Herndon town council voted 6-1 Tuesday night to partner with ICE to train Herndon police to (get this) ENFORCE THE LAW. That’s right: Herndon police are going to apply for a federal program to train them in enforcing THE LAW (8 U.S.C. 1324-1325, to be precise).

It seems there has been a bit of reluctance in some communities for police to ENFORCE THE LAW simply because the law is federal. I never understood this whole argument about “it’s a federal crime, not a local crime”—in spite of the fact that 8 U.S.C. 1324(c) explicitly states: “All officers whose duty it is to enforce criminal laws shall have authority to make arrests for a violation of any provision of this section.” Kidnapping across state lines is a federal crime. Would local police not arrest a kidnapper because kidnapping across state lines is a federal crime?

Last year, ignoring the many residents of Herndon who supported the rule of law, the Herndon Town Council went beyond failure to enforce the law and chose to aid and abet law breaking when it voted to create the infamous day laborer site. The vote was a mixed blessing—while outrageous, it sparked an even greater outcry which led to the ouster of the mayor and two council members. Now, not only has Herndon’s government voted to embrace law enforcement, it is considering measures that would crack down on employers who are breaking the law.

So, Hooray for Herndon!

Personal promo: The success of the grassroots movement in Herndon to support the rule of law will be a topic of discussion in my panel on illegal immigration at the VCAP Conservative Convention…Border Security is National Security: The Costs and Perils of Illegal Immigration and the Grassroots Movement to Support the Rule of Law.