The mother of a woman allegedly murdered by an undocumented man in Northern Virginia was in Richmond Tuesday.
Advocates who flanked her pushed for cooperation agreements between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but one of Virginia’s more conservative localities recently said no.
“I think everyone should be advocating for a federal cooperation agreement with ICE,” said Nicole Kiprilov with The American Border Story, a group "dedicated to exposing the human impact of America’s border crisis."
She stood alongside Cheryl Minter, the mother of Stephanie Minter, a Fairfax County woman who was killed earlier this year, allegedly by an undocumented person.
“I had her for 41 years and I don’t know what I’m going to do without her,” Here’s Cheryl, who spoke briefly at the event, said.
Cheryl Minter didn’t mention politics, but Kiprilov stressed the importance of cooperation agreements with federal agencies.
“Immigration is a federal, state and local issue. Absolutely, 100 percent," she told Radio IQ. "And it goes all the way down to the community level.”
But only two weeks earlier, at a Lynchburg City Council meeting, Nathan Hendrix with the Blue Ridge Police Benevolent Association asked the Republican-leaning locality to vote no on an effort that would force such an agreement.
“Federal immigration enforcement and local law enforcement have two very different missions," Hendrix said. "Respecting these differences is not opposition to immigration enforcement, its recognition of the fact that different agencies exist for different purposes."
Hendrix also defended Lynchburg Police Chief Ken Edwards’ request for a no vote: “And our board does not believe that his decision will negatively impact public safety.”
Lynchburg council members voted down the effort to enter into the 287G agreement 4-2.
