Gilbert bill included in GOP immigrant package

Item by Chris Graham

A Republican Party legislative initiative aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration includes a proposal championed by Woodstock GOP Del. Todd Gilbert.
The substance of a measure introduced by Gilbert into the 2007 Virginia General Assembly session, which would have denied the presumption of the right to bail for illegal aliens charged with serious crimes, was included in the package.
The bill passed the House of Delegates in February – but died in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee.
“I am pleased that my idea to end bail for criminal illegal aliens will have the full support of the Republican leadership on both sides of the Capitol,” Gilbert said in a prepared statement. “Frankly, it amazed me that such a common-sense bill that passed so overwhelmingly in the House, would be so easily defeated in a Senate committee. With an apparent new level of cooperation between the two bodies on the issue of illegal immigration, hopefully that won’t happen again next year.
“From my work as a prosecutor, I know that illegal aliens charged with serious crimes and out on bail, very often do not return to court for trial. It is a flaw in the Virginia justice system that sorely needs to be fixed. Perhaps next year the General Assembly will do just that,” Gilbert said.