Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell Wednesday announced a crackdown on alien sex offenders, who are not residents of the United States.
He says by helping the State Police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement communicate better, they've already put 171 sex offenders from other countries on track to being deported.
McDonnell says they already remove dangerous criminals from the United States when they are convicted but many slip through the cracks in the system.
McDonnell's release Wednesday even identified two offenders in the Valley. One person in Harrisonburg, who is from Thailand, was convicted of indecent liberties with a child. Another living in Waynesboro, who is from Honduras, was convicted of rape.
McDonnell says having strict standards for updating the sex offender registry makes it easier to track offenders who are here from other countries.
He says by feeding that information directly to the agency that deports aliens, dangerous criminals will be off the streets and out of the country much quicker.
"Sex offenders are a uniquely dangerous criminal element. There's no cure for the pedophile. The repetition rate for sex offenders is uniquely high, therefore this unique criminal element needs to be treated differently," says McDonnell.
McDonnell adds that this is just the first step he wants to implement to continue improving cooperation between ICE and local police forces. He says he also wants to expand it to cover other dangerous criminals from other countries.