HOW THE WEST WAS LOST - PART ELEVEN

Prince William County, Virginia Softens Policy On Immigration

The Washington Post

The Prince William County supervisors abolished a key part of the county’s illegal-immigration policy last night by directing police officers to question criminal suspects about their immigration status only after they have been arrested.

In October, the Board of County Supervisors directed officers to check the legal status of crime suspects, no matter how minor the offense, if they think the person might be in the country unlawfully.

“The basic policy is fundamentally the same. We just changed the way it’s implemented,” Supervisor Martin E. Nohe (R-Coles) said. “We want to give officers discretion in the field to use their judgment about when they ask and when they don’t. This allows them to make their own call.”

He said less-aggressive street enforcement limits the county’s risk of a lawsuit.

Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large) said the change will not amount to any “appreciable difference in the number of people arrested.”

“Every single person who is arrested will have their immigration status checked,” he said. “Officers will continue to have the discretion to check the status of anyone detained by them, even for minor infractions.”

The board unanimously supported changing course after slashing $3.1 million from its budget to install video cameras in police cars to enforce the county’s illegal-immigration policy. Police said they needed cameras to protect officers from accusations of racial profiling.

The board’s change in the immigration policy came before it considered the county budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The supervisors approved a fiscal 2009 budget of $893 million. That brings the property tax rate to 97 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, amounting to a 5 percent increase in the tax bill of the average homeowner.

The supervisors cut an additional $1.2 million in related police, foster care and protective services for the children of deported illegal immigrants last week. Other cuts included a reduction in proposed fire and rescue staffing.

WAR OF THE WORLDS - PART FIVE

CIA Chief Sees Unrest Rising With Population

The Washington Post

Swelling populations and a global tide of immigration will present new security challenges for the United States by straining resources and stoking extremism and civil unrest in distant corners of the globe, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said in a speech yesterday.

The population surge could undermine the stability of some of the world’s most fragile states, especially in Africa, while in the West, governments will be forced to grapple with ever larger immigrant communities and deepening divisions over ethnicity and race, Hayden said.

Hayden, speaking at Kansas State University, described the projected 33 percent growth in global population over the next 40 years as one of three significant trends that will alter the security landscape in the current century. By 2050, the number of humans on Earth is expected to rise from 6.7 billion to more than 9 billion, he said.

“Most of that growth will occur in countries least able to sustain it, a situation that will likely fuel instability and extremism, both in those countries and beyond,” Hayden said.

With the population of countries such as Niger and Liberia projected to triple in size in 40 years, regional governments will be forced to rapidly find food, shelter and jobs for millions, or deal with restive populations that “could be easily attracted to violence, civil unrest, or extremism,” he said.

European countries, many of which already have large immigrant communities, will see particular growth in their Muslim populations while the number of non-Muslims will shrink as birthrates fall. “Social integration of immigrants will pose a significant challenge to many host nations - again boosting the potential for unrest and extremism,” Hayden said.

The CIA director also predicted a widening gulf between Europe and North America on how to deal with security threats, including terrorism. While U.S. and European officials agree on the urgency of the terrorism threat, there is a fundamental difference - a “transatlantic divide” - over the solution, he said.

While the United States sees the fight against terrorism as a global war, European nations perceive the terrorist threat as a law enforcement problem, he said.

“They tend not to view terrorism as we do, as an overwhelming international challenge. Or if they do, we often differ on what would be effective and appropriate to counter it,” Hayden said. He added that he could not predict “when or if” the two sides could forge a common approach to security.