While absent the type of national headlines that were garnered by Postville, Vinton is a small town that has had its fair share of immigration crack-downs. Just last month agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided The Peony Chinese Restaurant, detaining two suspected undocumented workers. Within the past few years, two other Vinton restaurants have closed due to investigations into illegal immigration.

Todd Lundvall of The Vinton Eagle interviewed local Police Chief Jeff Tilson, who had a lot to say about the role his department has taken in what he describes as an aggressive fight against illegal immigration.

“The laws on the books work just fine,” Tilson told Lundvall. “We just have to enforce them. I always tell people that I cannot create an environment where crime can’t exist, but I can try to create one where crime won’t exist. We have taken a pretty aggressive stand on illegal immigration.”

Although Tilson declined to discuss the specifics of the ongoing Peony Restaurant case, he did say that the investigation that led to that raid, as well as every other federal immigration action in Vinton, was initiated by the local department. Because illegal entry into the U.S. is a crime and because such immigrants can bring “a whole bunch of other problems to the community” Tilson believes he and his department have an obligation to put a stop to such practices.

“Look at what happened to Postville; how widespread it became because nobody paid attention to it,” he said. “If workers are illegal, I want to catch them right at the offset.”