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Stephanie Ramirez, WUSA 7:23 PM. EST January 26, 2017

WASHINGTON (WUSA9) - Local immigrant activists groups are planning rallies for Friday and the weekend in protest of the Presidents Executive Order, which among several things calls for more public reporting on crimes committed in sanctuary cities by those here illegally.

How? Is it legal?

Another major question now plaguing several D.C. Maryland and Virginia communities is, will our family be torn apart due to the Presidents Executive Order?

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One Virginia man's answer to that is: at least your loved one is alive.

Ray Tranchantsaidhe lost his daughter and her best friend to an illegal immigrant in 2007. His daughters name is Tessa Tranchant. Her obituary says she was born in Arlington, Va. and then moved to Virginia Beach.

Thats where the 16-year-old and her friend Allison Kunhardt were sitting in a car at a traffic light when Tranchant says an illegal immigrant driving under the influence slammed into the back of their stopped vehicle at more than 70 mph.

"If my city had followed federal law, he, would've been incarcerated and probably deported and wouldn't have been in place to kill my daughter. I'm not God. I don't know if that is true but I just know logically it is, said Ray Tranchant over FaceTime on Thursday.

Various news reports on the case say the suspect had been arrested twice before on crimes including DUI, but was never deported. Since then, Tranchant says hes been fighting against Sanctuary Cities and applauds the Presidents Executive Order.

The group, The Remembrance Project, connected WUSA9 to Tranchant.

This VA dad supports Executive Order. Says sanctuary cities protected the illegal immigrant who killed his daughter, Tessa Tranchant @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/Js4y0ZgFPG

I think he has my priority, said Tranchant of President Trump. People who have committed crimes in America that are not American should be deported. President Obamas Executive Order prevented that from happening.

In the interview, Tranchantsaid his family came as immigrants and went through the proper channels. He feels those who did not come here legally are committing crimes.

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Tranchant believes the number of people in the U.S. illegally or undocumented is more than 20 million and cites Ann Coulters Book, Adios, America: The Left's Plan to Turn Our Country into a Third World Hellhole as one of the places he derived the figure from.

Some, including Tranchant, feel former administrations dating back to President Reagan have tried to downplay the number of undocumented in the United States.

The non-partisan group, The Migration Policy Institute, studies migration and has a much smaller number. Randy Capps says according to their studies, MPI finds there are around 11-12 million unauthorized people in the U.S. Of that group, an estimated 820,000 people are categorized as criminals living in the U.S. illegally. The number also equates to around 7% of the unauthorized population.

Capps notes the Presidents Executive Order does not separate misdemeanor crimes from violent offenses, going after criminals living here illegally.

This doesnt take into account that a large majority of that population has been in the United States for a long time. Many are home owners, a lot of them have families with children with U.S. Citizenship. Seven million to eight million unauthorized citizens are working and theyre contributing economically and culturally to the United States, said Capps.

He also went on to say, the tone and purpose of the executive orders is in some ways more troubling than the substance because it suggests that the Trump administration views this entire problem as unauthorized immigration as a security and public safety problem when in reality there's a lot more going on."

When asked about the undocumented citizens who have not committed any violent crimes, Tranchant says hes a Christian man and doesnt have the answer to that. He feels Congress needs to address immigration, something both sides may be able to agree on.

Still, he does not support Sanctuary Cities.

I can name 10 people right now who were killed by criminals who have records who the sanctuary cities protected, said Tranchant.

He also points out some of the DMVs issues, which include MS13 gang activity. Other DMV high-profile cases on the topic include the deaths of Vanessa Pham and Sister Denise Mosier.

On Wednesday, WUSA9 spoke with one undocumented person who says, to no fault of his own, has been stuck in court fighting for U.S. citizenship. Hes one of the hundreds of thousands now concerned about what could happen to him.

Immigrant activists are saying the part of the Executive Order that details withholding Federal funds from Sanctuary Cities is illegal. Others want to know how another part of that Executive Order, demanding a weekly list of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants in sanctuary cities, is going to be collected.

DC Mayor Bowser doubled down on her promise to keep the District a Sanctuary City.

WUSA9 did check in with our areas police departments. Some do not ask legal status at arrest, its not policy to do so. Others do, but whether they ask or not, jurisdictions like Montgomery and Prince William Counties say they provide arrest information to the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division.

Were told its up to ICE, and not the local police department, to verify someone's status and act when necessary.

( 2017 WUSA)

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Executive Order and Illegal Immigration: The fight continues - WUSA9.com