A Virginia police chief who suspended an officer for cooperating with ICE was putting his political agenda first, former acting ICE Director Tom Homan said Wednesday.
Appearing on "Fox & Friends" with co-anchors Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade, Homan said that the Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. has forgotten what it's like to be a cop on the streets.
"Here's a police officer responding to a traffic accident caused by an illegal alien that has no driver's license, has no insurance. He ran him through the system. There's an outstanding warrant from ICE because he's in the country illegally. He's a fugitive from justice because he didn't show up in court," Homan lamented. "The cop was being a cop!"
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"And, for the chief to suspend them ... maybe the chief ought to remember what it's like to be a cop. Because the chief stopped being a cop when he made that decision. He became a politician," said Homan, a Fox News contributor.
The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) didn't identify the suspended officer in a statement released Tuesday. The incident occurred on Sept. 21, when the officer was dispatched to a car accident. The officer then discovered one of the drivers didn't have a Virginia driver's license and ran a check with the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
The search revealed the driver had a violation for failing to appear for a deportation hearing. The officer proceeded to contact the ICE agent listed as the point of contact on the confirmation of the warrant.
In suspending the officer, the 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.
The driver was released from federal custody and ordered to wear an ankle monitor. Chief Roessler apologized for the incident and ordered an internal investigation.
"This is an unfortunate issue where the officer was confused," Roessler wrote in a statement. " 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."
The lapse in judgment, Homan argued, was with Roessler.
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"The only confusion here is the chief forgot what it's like to be on the streets and protect the communities. ICE is helping him," he said. "You know how many criminal aliens ICE has taken off the streets of Fairfax?"
"If that warrant would have been from the FBI or DEA or from another county or another city, this wouldn't be a story today," Homan continued. "This is all because it's a political theater of immigration enforcement, and that chief and that city council - they're politicians. Again, the community comes second; politics come first."
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