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Battle over immigration intensifies
The battle over immigration in Prince William County has been ratcheted up a few notches. To say the least.Over Labor Day weekend, thousands of protesters descended on the county and were followed shortly thereafter by reports that the Ku Klux Klan had also come to town.
On Sunday, several thousand immigrants and their allies marched on the McCoart Building in the culmination of a weeklong boycott of county businesses.
The boycott and rally were intended to protest the Board of County Supervisors' recent resolution that aims to crack down on illegal aliens.
Supporters of the boycott claimed that it worked, while opponents claimed that it had no effect. However, revenue statistics will not be available for several weeks.
At the same time the protesters were mobilizing on the eastern end of the county, Klan supporters were leaving fliers at homes in Manassas.
The fliers were immediately condemned by officials who said a Klan presence is not helpful.
"I think it's unfortunate," said Manassas Del. Jackson Miller (R-50th), a staunch supporter of the crackdown on illegal immigrants. "I think it's obviously a fringe terrorist group."
Gainesville Supervisor John Stirrup (R), has been leading the charge against illegal immigration but said Wednesday that the Klan fliers "came out of left field."
"I think everybody has just been appalled by the fact that that material appeared in Prince William County or the City of Manassas," he said, adding that he doesn't know of anyone who has contact with the Klan.
But the back-and-forth didn't end on Sunday. On Tuesday, a number of anti-immigrant residents encouraged the Board of County Supervisors to engage in further crackdowns on immigrants.
Some complained that illegal immigrants are responsible for a large percentage of the crimes committed in the county, a claim that is refuted by county police.
Though acknowledging that there are no real statistics, one Gainesville man claimed illegal immigrants have murdered more American citizens this year than the combined number of U.S. fatalities during the entire wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Immigrants and their allies were present as well, asking the supervisors to reconsider.
"There is no legislative grounds to justify the resolution," said 70-year-old Oscar Torres-Luqui, before speaking to the board. "They did not make any studies at all."
It all comes as the board prepares to figure out how to implement a crackdown on illegal immigrants.
The resolution
Later this month, the board will decide how best to ensure that illegal immigrants don't receive county services. The process is proving difficult, Chairman Corey Stewart (R) admitted on Tuesday.
For instance, all children, regardless of their citizenship, are required to go to school. In addition, hospitals are required to treat everyone who enters the emergency room.
County services, like parks, libraries and swimming pools, could be denied to illegal immigrants, but Stewart has previously said that it is probably unfeasible to check the immigration status of everyone who walks in the door.
One of the possibilities, he said Tuesday, is that homeless shelters could be required to deny services to those who can't prove their legal status, although he acknowledged that many homeless people probably can't prove their status because they don't have identification.
Plus, he said, many children are here legally even though their parents are not, and that makes the shelter issue even more complicated.
Stewart agreed that the implementation will be tricky but the bottom line, he said, is that there isn't enough money to do everything, so legal residents must come first.
"Looking out for legal residents and citizens is more important than looking out for people who are here illegally," he said.
On Sept. 18, the board will discuss how to implement those issues and another one dealing with police.
The supervisors had also previously ordered police to detain suspects who they have probable cause to believe are here illegally.
At the Sept. 18 meeting, Police Chief Charlie Deane will report to the board on how officers will define "probable cause" and what steps they will take to determine a suspect's immigration status.
Though the staffers will report their recommendations at the Sept. 18 meeting, it is not yet clear whether final decisions will be reached at that time or whether they will be put off.
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