The illegal immigration debate may have dialed back to a simmer in Congress but it’s heating back up locally. The Prince William County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously last night to curb access by illegal immigrants to public services and to step up immigration enforcement by local police.
The public hearing was Prince William’s largest in 20 years; manay in the overflow crowd of roughly 400 watched the proceedings on closed circuit television in the lobby. More than 100 people addressed the board.
It’s still not clear exactly which services would be restricted. The county would not curtail access to schools or emergency medical care. Presumably, the restrictions would apply to welfare-like public assistance benefits. The measure gives county workers 60 to 90 days, depending upon which newspaper you believe, to help board members determine which public services can be lawfully denied to illegal immigrants.
The measure issued a directive to require police to ask people about their immigration status, if they had probable cause to do so. The resolution also directed the police department to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement to train officers who would enforce immigration laws under ICE supervision.
For details see:
The Washington Post
The Washington Examiner
The Manassas Journal-Messenger
The Washington Times
And, for the most colorful coverage, see Black Velvet Bruce Li, whose Greg Letiecq led a group called Help Save Manassas in support of the ordinance. (Use your Firefox browser to access the blog.)
Foes of the measure raised a number of practical objections, but the main rhetorical thrust was this: If you want to crack down on illegal immigration, you’re racist. I’m sorry, but the old canard of crying racism-racism-racism has been played so many times that it’s lost its power. There is no tradition or history of anti-Hispanic racism in Virginia, and no sense of guilt to appease. Indeed, Northern Virginia is a hotbed of Hispanic business enterprise, which suggests the very opposite, that Virginians are very hospitable to Hispanics who reside here legally.
(I would say this: Prince William could inoculate itself against such charges if it required police to check the immigration status of anyone convicted of a crime, not to rely upon the subjective judgment of probable cause. If you’ve been convicted of a crime and you reside here illegally, I don’t care if you’re Hispanic or if you’re a blond-haired, blue-eyed Eastern European, I don’t friggin’ want you in this country.)
Prince William’s action may be the forerunner of things to come. Clearly, the anti-illegal movement has legs, not just nationally but locally. House Republicans proposed a number of laws earlier this year pertaining to illegal immigration. With all the excitement over transportation and land use, I didn’t have time to delve into them. If I get a chance, I’ll resurrect some of that info.