Jump in Tax Rate Looms as Home Values Plunge
20 Cent Increase -- $257 Extra in Average Bill -- Required to Pay for Schools Plan and Other Priorities
By Christy Goodman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 14, 2007; Page PW01
Prince William County residents will see an increase in next year's property tax rate, no matter what.
County officials estimate that real estate values will drop by 14 percent on average, requiring at least a 13 cent increase to the 78.7 cent property tax rate to keep revenue stable. But to properly staff public safety agencies, pay for technology upgrades and build roads approved in a 2006 bond referendum, the tax rate would need to be closer to 95 cents. And to fund the county schools plan, the rate would need to grow to nearly 99 cents, for a $257 increase in the average tax bill. These rates don't take into account the Police Department's need for $14.2 million over five years if a crackdown on illegal immigrants is carried out, or the costs of defending a lawsuit filed by civil rights organizations over the clampdown.
The projected rates do include cuts to employee benefits and delays in expanding the public safety training center and in constructing schools.
"We will be looking at declining values of residential real estate for four years in a row," County Executive Craig S. Gerhart said to the county supervisors during a meeting Thursday to discuss financial matters.
County staff members estimate a 30 percent drop in average home values between fiscal 2008 and 2012. And the real estate woes have led to a "ripple effect" in sales and business taxes collected by the county, said Christopher Martino, the county's finance director.
Despite what Supervisor W.S. Covington III (R-Brentsville) termed a "pretty scary" outlook, the chairman of the Board of County Supervisors, Corey A. Stewart (R), refused to consider a less-expensive, staggered implementation of the illegal-immigration crackdown. A vote on the program is set for Tuesday.
"It all has to do with priorities," Stewart told the board.
"All you are doing is a quick shot," Supervisor John D. Jenkins (D-Neabsco) said to Stewart. Jenkins said he favors the staggered plan, in which officers would be hired and trained as money becomes available.
Vice Chairman Martin E. Nohe (R-Coles) noted that the police's illegal-immigration plan would cost $2.8 million in each of the next five years. "We just spent the last six hours discussing how we don't" have the money, Nohe said.
Stewart proposed using money in the county's contingency fund for the program, which would cover it for fiscal 2008 but offered no solution for paying for the program in the following years. "We'll have some tough decisions to make," he said.
The contingency fund, usually used in emergencies, is a percentage of the budget that the board sets aside. The fund has about $796,000; it would drop to $221,000 if Stewart's proposal is approved.
Tough decisions also will have to be made about the schools. The School Board has said the system will be $32.1 million in the hole in the next fiscal year. At Thursday's meeting, Supervisor Maureen S. Caddigan (R-Dumfries) said the deficit figure represents what the schools need, not what they want.
County staff members said the schools' projected shortfall does not include such perennial requests as smaller classes, a technology upgrade, salary increases for teachers and staff members, or money for the local share of state revisions for the Standards of Quality.
"There is going to be this argument that is destined to happen. . . . We are the ones who are responsible for the tax rate," said Stewart, who then lamented that not enough schools are being built.
The supervisors also are set to vote Tuesday on payments from developers to the county to mitigate the impact of new housing, which include a fee for parks and open space, and to decide on the county's open-space provisions. The Planning Commission approved a county goal of having 25 acres of open space per 1,000 residents by 2030, which would require $790 million. The county staff plans to present a goal of 15 acres per 1,000 residents, which would cost $346 million. The county now has less than 10 acres per 1,000 residents.
"Why set a low standard now? Are we guessing we'll have budget trouble for the next 30 years? That doesn't make sense," said Kim Hosen, planning commissioner for the Occoquan District and executive director of the Prince William Conservation Alliance. Hosen said the county is well behind neighboring jurisdictions' open-space goals.
LJB
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill to Tighten Employment Standards for Illegal Immigrants
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
ADVERTISEMENT
OKLAHOMA CITY —
Gov. Brad Henry signed an immigration bill Tuesday that tightens employment standards to prevent illegal immigrants from finding work.
Henry called the legislation, passed overwhelmingly by the House and Senate, a stopgap measure to deal with an illegal immigration problem that is the responsibility of the federal government.
"States can take some actions on their own, but until the U.S. Congress enacts a comprehensive, national immigration policy, citizens will see little progress on this issue," he said.
The measure requires state and local agencies to verify the citizenship and immigration status of applicants for state or local benefits.
It also requires public agencies starting Nov. 1 to use a program to screen Social Security numbers to make sure they are real and match up with the job applicant's name. Private companies must comply by July 1, 2008.
The measure would not affect emergency medical and humanitarian services, such as visits to hospital emergency rooms and enrollment in public schools, that are required by federal law.
More than 100,000 illegal immigrants are estimated to live in Oklahoma.
Immigrant groups said the measure is was a vain attempt to stop illegal immigration and can lead to discriminatory barriers to housing and jobs.
The groups are considering a challenge to the new law's constitutionality, saying that immigration policy is the domain of the federal government, not the state.
"It's going to take us back," said Ray Madrid, state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "I'm sure there's going to be neighbors turning neighbors in."
Posted by Mark
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
ADVERTISEMENT
OKLAHOMA CITY —
Gov. Brad Henry signed an immigration bill Tuesday that tightens employment standards to prevent illegal immigrants from finding work.
Henry called the legislation, passed overwhelmingly by the House and Senate, a stopgap measure to deal with an illegal immigration problem that is the responsibility of the federal government.
"States can take some actions on their own, but until the U.S. Congress enacts a comprehensive, national immigration policy, citizens will see little progress on this issue," he said.
The measure requires state and local agencies to verify the citizenship and immigration status of applicants for state or local benefits.
It also requires public agencies starting Nov. 1 to use a program to screen Social Security numbers to make sure they are real and match up with the job applicant's name. Private companies must comply by July 1, 2008.
The measure would not affect emergency medical and humanitarian services, such as visits to hospital emergency rooms and enrollment in public schools, that are required by federal law.
More than 100,000 illegal immigrants are estimated to live in Oklahoma.
Immigrant groups said the measure is was a vain attempt to stop illegal immigration and can lead to discriminatory barriers to housing and jobs.
The groups are considering a challenge to the new law's constitutionality, saying that immigration policy is the domain of the federal government, not the state.
"It's going to take us back," said Ray Madrid, state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "I'm sure there's going to be neighbors turning neighbors in."
Posted by Mark
Robbers Stalk Hispanic Immigrants, Seeing Ideal Prey
By Ernesto Londoño and Theresa Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 26, 2007; Page A01
By the time they set upon Victor Hernandez, knocking him to the pavement and kicking him furiously, the teenagers were deep into a weeks-long spree of robbing Hispanic immigrants.
They coined a term for the assaults, one that reflected the uniformity of the victims they selected: "amigo shopping." The teenagers recorded some of the attacks with a cellphone camera, saving one of the videos under the file name "amigo," a source familiar with the case said.
Hernandez, a dishwasher in Montgomery County, was an ideal target that August night in a type of robbery that law enforcement officials say has become alarmingly common in parts of the Washington region. Hispanic immigrants are being targeted, often in gratuitously violent attacks by non-Hispanics, because they are thought to carry cash rather than use banks and to be reluctant to report crimes to police, the officials said.
The attacks are occurring with such frequency that police in Prince William County have created a task force, and Montgomery police have assigned a specialized unit to tackle the problem. The crimes are having profound effects in the neighborhoods where they occur, causing some residents to alter their routines.
"Everyone leaves with someone else, in groups of two or three," said Woodbridge resident Joaquin Rodriquez, describing the change that has occurred since the fatal shooting of a Mexican immigrant during a robbery in September 2006.
Authorities say the teenage assailants in that case targeted Serafin "Pedro" Alvarez Negrete after agreeing to "get an amigo." They attacked Negrete, 32, as he walked home from a shopping center.
"Like alligators waiting for the gazelle to cross the river," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney John B. Arledge said as one of the men was sentenced last week.
Police say recent immigrants, particularly laborers who return home on foot at night, are most vulnerable. Assailants have been known to lurk between shopping centers, even sometimes outside of cash-checking businesses on payday, police say.
Policing experts expressed concern that attacks on immigrants, already believed to be under-reported, might be reported less and less as local police agencies become increasingly involved in enforcing immigration policy.
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"The reason that this issue is becoming so acute is the fear that people who are here illegally will stop reporting crime or will be afraid to serve as witnesses," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a think tank in the District. "That only puts that population at greater risk for greater harm."
A suspect in one such robbery recently told police in Prince William that he had robbed several other Hispanics in the same area over several months, said 1st Sgt. Daniel Hess, commander of the county department's street crimes unit. He said police then searched department files but found no record of the robberies, suggesting they had not been reported.
"We've had people severely injured for less than a hundred dollars in their pocket," Hess said. "It's nonsensical. No one should have to worry about, 'If I walk to the convenient store tonight, I might be jumped by a group of thugs and killed for having to go down and buy a half-gallon of milk.' "
Despite their brutality, the robberies are not necessarily motivated by ethnic bigotry, authorities say. Rather, they are typically crimes of opportunity. While the majority of the perpetrators have been identified as black men, Latinos and whites have also been charged in some cases, authorities said.
"All you need is a shadow and a victim," said Warren Jensen, a Montgomery police officer who is a member of the unit assigned to combat such robberies.
Jensen spoke as he and a fellow officer patrolled on foot recently in a Silver Spring apartment complex. Members of the unit say that, even when the robberies are reported, the investigations are often hindered by the language barrier.
Many of the assailants who are charged are juveniles, which means they are not in custody for as long as they would be if they were charged as adults.
Hernandez, 59, a legal immigrant from Honduras who works at two restaurants on Rockville Pike, was attacked within blocks of his home shortly after midnight Aug. 23. The teenagers approached and asked him for money. He said he had none and kept walking.
"They ganged up on me, throwing punches," he said in an interview.
Curled up on the ground, Hernandez was kicked repeatedly in the face and lost consciousness. The teenagers made off with about $160, but detectives recovered a prized possession, his work authorization document, which they delivered to him in his hospital room.
Police arrested two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old, charging them as juveniles with robbery, assault and conspiracy to commit robbery. Each has since admitted responsibility in court or agreed to do so.
According to a source with knowledge of the events, one of the youths told investigators that he and his friends used the phrase "amigo shopping" to refer to the search for victims. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because aspects of the investigation remain open.
The arrests of the three juveniles, and the discovery of the videos, allowed police to close investigations into four similar robberies in the preceding weeks. Five teenagers were charged.
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Rene Sandler, an attorney for one of the three teenagers, said her client took responsibility for his actions and has cooperated with police. Though the juvenile's parents are not Hispanic immigrants, she said of her client, "He keeps thinking this could have happened to one of his parents."
Negrete, the victim in the Prince William case, arrived from Mexico in 2005, moving into a room in a faded trailer park and sending money back to his wife and three children. He was walking to that room, a simple space furnished with little more than a bed with no sheets, in September 2006 when he was confronted by the teenage robbers.
At the entrance to the trailer park, Negrete was shot at least eight times. A weathered shrine marks the spot where his body fell. Fastened to a chain-link fence is a wooden cross covered with white lilies, plastic and permanent.
Georgino Napier, who was 18 at the time, and Carlito McToy, who was 17, were charged as adults with first-degree murder. They have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 28 and 33 years in prison, respectively.
Much in the neighborhood has changed since the slaying. Overhead lighting was installed, police began to patrol the area more aggressively and residents learned to change their habits. Relatives of Negrete have returned to Mexico.
When Negrete was killed, Prince William police had already noticed a spike in robberies of immigrants. The county's crime rate in 2006 was the lowest in five years, but robberies were up 40 percent. Of the 351 reported, 83 percent were street robberies, many of which involved Latino victims.
In Montgomery, 285 robberies reported last year were committed by three or more people, police said. The majority of the victims in the "pack robberies" were recent immigrants, county police said.
In both counties, police said they remain concerned about the robberies but believe recent efforts to curb them have been effective.
After several men were robbed in her Manassas neighborhood last year, Yanette Herrera said the victims spoke of possibly striking back. They figured that if they retaliated, hurting one of the assailants, it might send a message, she said.
"We are very patient, but when we see something not changing . . .," she said in an interview. "You know how bad it is working 12 hours a day and someone just takes it in a minute?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102502740_3.html?referrer=emailarticle
-MN
By Ernesto Londoño and Theresa Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 26, 2007; Page A01
By the time they set upon Victor Hernandez, knocking him to the pavement and kicking him furiously, the teenagers were deep into a weeks-long spree of robbing Hispanic immigrants.
They coined a term for the assaults, one that reflected the uniformity of the victims they selected: "amigo shopping." The teenagers recorded some of the attacks with a cellphone camera, saving one of the videos under the file name "amigo," a source familiar with the case said.
Hernandez, a dishwasher in Montgomery County, was an ideal target that August night in a type of robbery that law enforcement officials say has become alarmingly common in parts of the Washington region. Hispanic immigrants are being targeted, often in gratuitously violent attacks by non-Hispanics, because they are thought to carry cash rather than use banks and to be reluctant to report crimes to police, the officials said.
The attacks are occurring with such frequency that police in Prince William County have created a task force, and Montgomery police have assigned a specialized unit to tackle the problem. The crimes are having profound effects in the neighborhoods where they occur, causing some residents to alter their routines.
"Everyone leaves with someone else, in groups of two or three," said Woodbridge resident Joaquin Rodriquez, describing the change that has occurred since the fatal shooting of a Mexican immigrant during a robbery in September 2006.
Authorities say the teenage assailants in that case targeted Serafin "Pedro" Alvarez Negrete after agreeing to "get an amigo." They attacked Negrete, 32, as he walked home from a shopping center.
"Like alligators waiting for the gazelle to cross the river," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney John B. Arledge said as one of the men was sentenced last week.
Police say recent immigrants, particularly laborers who return home on foot at night, are most vulnerable. Assailants have been known to lurk between shopping centers, even sometimes outside of cash-checking businesses on payday, police say.
Policing experts expressed concern that attacks on immigrants, already believed to be under-reported, might be reported less and less as local police agencies become increasingly involved in enforcing immigration policy.
ad_icon
"The reason that this issue is becoming so acute is the fear that people who are here illegally will stop reporting crime or will be afraid to serve as witnesses," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a think tank in the District. "That only puts that population at greater risk for greater harm."
A suspect in one such robbery recently told police in Prince William that he had robbed several other Hispanics in the same area over several months, said 1st Sgt. Daniel Hess, commander of the county department's street crimes unit. He said police then searched department files but found no record of the robberies, suggesting they had not been reported.
"We've had people severely injured for less than a hundred dollars in their pocket," Hess said. "It's nonsensical. No one should have to worry about, 'If I walk to the convenient store tonight, I might be jumped by a group of thugs and killed for having to go down and buy a half-gallon of milk.' "
Despite their brutality, the robberies are not necessarily motivated by ethnic bigotry, authorities say. Rather, they are typically crimes of opportunity. While the majority of the perpetrators have been identified as black men, Latinos and whites have also been charged in some cases, authorities said.
"All you need is a shadow and a victim," said Warren Jensen, a Montgomery police officer who is a member of the unit assigned to combat such robberies.
Jensen spoke as he and a fellow officer patrolled on foot recently in a Silver Spring apartment complex. Members of the unit say that, even when the robberies are reported, the investigations are often hindered by the language barrier.
Many of the assailants who are charged are juveniles, which means they are not in custody for as long as they would be if they were charged as adults.
Hernandez, 59, a legal immigrant from Honduras who works at two restaurants on Rockville Pike, was attacked within blocks of his home shortly after midnight Aug. 23. The teenagers approached and asked him for money. He said he had none and kept walking.
"They ganged up on me, throwing punches," he said in an interview.
Curled up on the ground, Hernandez was kicked repeatedly in the face and lost consciousness. The teenagers made off with about $160, but detectives recovered a prized possession, his work authorization document, which they delivered to him in his hospital room.
Police arrested two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old, charging them as juveniles with robbery, assault and conspiracy to commit robbery. Each has since admitted responsibility in court or agreed to do so.
According to a source with knowledge of the events, one of the youths told investigators that he and his friends used the phrase "amigo shopping" to refer to the search for victims. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because aspects of the investigation remain open.
The arrests of the three juveniles, and the discovery of the videos, allowed police to close investigations into four similar robberies in the preceding weeks. Five teenagers were charged.
ad_icon
Rene Sandler, an attorney for one of the three teenagers, said her client took responsibility for his actions and has cooperated with police. Though the juvenile's parents are not Hispanic immigrants, she said of her client, "He keeps thinking this could have happened to one of his parents."
Negrete, the victim in the Prince William case, arrived from Mexico in 2005, moving into a room in a faded trailer park and sending money back to his wife and three children. He was walking to that room, a simple space furnished with little more than a bed with no sheets, in September 2006 when he was confronted by the teenage robbers.
At the entrance to the trailer park, Negrete was shot at least eight times. A weathered shrine marks the spot where his body fell. Fastened to a chain-link fence is a wooden cross covered with white lilies, plastic and permanent.
Georgino Napier, who was 18 at the time, and Carlito McToy, who was 17, were charged as adults with first-degree murder. They have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 28 and 33 years in prison, respectively.
Much in the neighborhood has changed since the slaying. Overhead lighting was installed, police began to patrol the area more aggressively and residents learned to change their habits. Relatives of Negrete have returned to Mexico.
When Negrete was killed, Prince William police had already noticed a spike in robberies of immigrants. The county's crime rate in 2006 was the lowest in five years, but robberies were up 40 percent. Of the 351 reported, 83 percent were street robberies, many of which involved Latino victims.
In Montgomery, 285 robberies reported last year were committed by three or more people, police said. The majority of the victims in the "pack robberies" were recent immigrants, county police said.
In both counties, police said they remain concerned about the robberies but believe recent efforts to curb them have been effective.
After several men were robbed in her Manassas neighborhood last year, Yanette Herrera said the victims spoke of possibly striking back. They figured that if they retaliated, hurting one of the assailants, it might send a message, she said.
"We are very patient, but when we see something not changing . . .," she said in an interview. "You know how bad it is working 12 hours a day and someone just takes it in a minute?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102502740_3.html?referrer=emailarticle
-MN
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Illegal Immigrants Focus in VA
Poll Finds Va. Focused On Illegal Immigrants
Issue Could Sway State, Local Races
By Anita Kumar and Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 24, 2007; Page A01
After years of simmering in the background, illegal immigration has quickly emerged as one of the key issues in Virginia's Nov. 6 election, particularly in Northern Virginia, where voters say they are seeking candidates who will address it, according to a new Washington Post poll.
Three-quarters of likely voters in Virginia said immigration is important to their votes in the election for state and local offices, while just a year ago, immigration ranked seventh of 10 listed issues in a Post poll before the U.S. Senate race. Since then, the percentage of Virginia voters calling immigration "extremely" or "very" important to their vote has jumped 15 points.
"That's heartening," said Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, who spearheaded efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants. "For many people, this has really become a serious threat to their quality of life."
There is a widespread sense that illegal immigration is a local problem, particularly after Congress's failure to approve an immigration overhaul this summer. That has vaulted the issue into prominence.
It has also gained attention because of what people in both parties say is a predominantly Republican tactic to turn attention away from President Bush's sagging approval ratings, an unpopular war and the state's costly new abusive-driver fees.
"It's a conscious political strategy by Virginia Republicans," said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy group in Washington. "What happens in Virginia in the legislative races will be a pretty good test of whether this works or not."
Republicans across the state -- and a few Democrats in conservative districts -- have seized the issue, unveiling countless proposals to curb illegal immigration and talking it up on the campaign trail.
In the past two statewide elections, the unsuccessful Republican candidates for U.S. Senate and governor tried to make immigration an issue, but it did not resonate as deeply with voters as such problems as traffic congestion. Transportation and the state's economy are still the biggest issues facing Virginia today, according to the Post poll, but immigration has made a surge in voter interest this fall. Among likely voters, 61 percent called illegal immigration a problem where they live.
A majority of likely voters who said immigration is extremely important would like to see Republicans maintain control of the General Assembly, and those who call the issue the state's top problem generally prefer the GOP approach. But overall, Virginians give Democrats a narrow edge on handling immigration, and more voters would like to see the Democrats take over the state legislature.
"I think Democrats would have a better solution," said Barbara Humphreys, 57, of Buena Vista, who ranks immigration as a top issue, along with the economy and the war in Iraq.
Political analysts say Democrats could make gains in the Republican-led legislature Nov. 6, when all 140 House and Senate seats are up for grabs. Democrats could take control of the Senate for the first time since 1999 and pick up a half-dozen or so seats in the House of Delegates, analysts say.
A majority of Virginians, 53 percent, said they want state and local governments to do "a lot" to deal with illegal immigration; an additional third said they want "some" action.
Although state and local governments can do little to resolve immigration concerns, in part because federal and state laws provide many protections for illegal immigrants, six in 10 likely Virginia voters said they would be more inclined to support an office seeker who advocated aggressive state and local action against illegal immigrants.
"I think we need to strengthen our borders," said Lori Robinson, 45, of Norfolk, who plans to vote for Republicans next month, partly because she thinks they would be stronger on immigration. "I'm looking for someone to stand up and say, 'This is what this country needs.' You want to help everyone, but you can't."
"Clearly there's a lot of frustration with the broken immigration system," said Tim Freilich, legal director for the Virginia Justice Center for Farm and Immigrant Workers. "What we're seeing are state and local elected officials trying to do something. What we need now is comprehensive immigration reform. We don't need mean-spirited, shortsighted results."
In recent months, Prince William and Loudoun counties have voted to curtail government services to illegal immigrants, and Herndon voted to close a controversial day-laborer center frequented by many illegal immigrants. Last week, the Prince William board also unanimously passed a proposal that will allow police to check the immigration status of anyone who breaks the law. Fairfax officials are trying to determine which county services can be denied to illegal immigrants, although they haven't decided to do that.
Republicans dispute the notion that they are exploiting the immigration issue to gain political advantage, saying they are responding to complaints from voters. "If you're hyping a nonissue, you wouldn't get these results," Stewart said.
Gerald E. Connolly (D), who is running for reelection as chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said many politicians are making false claims about what they can do.
"Some politicians have declared open season on a particular group of immigrants who are here that goes way beyond unpalatable. It puts people at risk. I can tell you I've spoken to a lot of immigrant communities. This has made them very anxious. We have a sad history in Virginia that we don't want to repeat," Connolly said.
Nearly seven in 10 Virginians polled said the federal government has not done enough to deal with the issue. But many also see illegal immigration as a state and local issue -- and not one that the federal government alone should address.
About one in eight Virginians call immigration the most or second-most important problem in the state. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said illegal immigration is a problem where they live, including 20 percent who said it is a "very serious problem."
Steve Fowler, 57, a consultant who lives in Manassas, describes immigration and transportation as his top issues after abortion. "To me, the issue is . . . whether they broke the law to come here," he said.
But Bill Maxwell, 70, a retiree who has lived in Alexandria for four decades, said immigration is not a top priority. "I think Republicans are making a big deal out of it," said Maxwell, who has voted for both parties in the past but plans to vote Democratic in November.
On most questions about immigration, there are wide differences by party and region.
Although 58 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of independents want much more local action on illegal immigration, fewer Democrats, 43 percent, do. And almost three-quarters of Republicans are more likely to support a candidate who wants strong action against illegal immigrants, nearly double the percentage among Democrats.
"Republicans would do a better job," said Pat Holub, 42, who is in the Navy and lives in Springfield. "Liberals have a tendency to want to do everything for everybody."
Nearly a third of likely voters who live north of the Rappahannock River said immigration was one of the top two issues in the state, and 77 percent said illegal immigration was a problem in their communities; 37 percent called it a very serious problem.
Those numbers surged higher in Prince William, where half of all residents called immigration the most or second-most important issue facing the state and a majority classified illegal immigration as a very serious local problem.
Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that advocates limits on immigration and penalties for illegal immigrants, called the poll results surprising because immigration has not been an issue taken on by a statewide leader in Virginia as it has in some states.
Beck attributed some of the interest to increased attention to immigration by the media and to the enormous alterations in the state's landscape.
"People across Virginia, especially in Northern Virginia, they are witnessing a rapid change," he said.
The poll was conducted by telephone Oct. 4 through 8 among a random sample of 1,144 Virginia adults, including additional interviews with randomly selected residents of Loudoun and Prince William counties. The results from the full poll have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points; it is larger among subgroups.
Polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta and staff writer Bill Turque contributed to this report.
mn
Issue Could Sway State, Local Races
By Anita Kumar and Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 24, 2007; Page A01
After years of simmering in the background, illegal immigration has quickly emerged as one of the key issues in Virginia's Nov. 6 election, particularly in Northern Virginia, where voters say they are seeking candidates who will address it, according to a new Washington Post poll.
Three-quarters of likely voters in Virginia said immigration is important to their votes in the election for state and local offices, while just a year ago, immigration ranked seventh of 10 listed issues in a Post poll before the U.S. Senate race. Since then, the percentage of Virginia voters calling immigration "extremely" or "very" important to their vote has jumped 15 points.
"That's heartening," said Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, who spearheaded efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants. "For many people, this has really become a serious threat to their quality of life."
There is a widespread sense that illegal immigration is a local problem, particularly after Congress's failure to approve an immigration overhaul this summer. That has vaulted the issue into prominence.
It has also gained attention because of what people in both parties say is a predominantly Republican tactic to turn attention away from President Bush's sagging approval ratings, an unpopular war and the state's costly new abusive-driver fees.
"It's a conscious political strategy by Virginia Republicans," said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy group in Washington. "What happens in Virginia in the legislative races will be a pretty good test of whether this works or not."
Republicans across the state -- and a few Democrats in conservative districts -- have seized the issue, unveiling countless proposals to curb illegal immigration and talking it up on the campaign trail.
In the past two statewide elections, the unsuccessful Republican candidates for U.S. Senate and governor tried to make immigration an issue, but it did not resonate as deeply with voters as such problems as traffic congestion. Transportation and the state's economy are still the biggest issues facing Virginia today, according to the Post poll, but immigration has made a surge in voter interest this fall. Among likely voters, 61 percent called illegal immigration a problem where they live.
A majority of likely voters who said immigration is extremely important would like to see Republicans maintain control of the General Assembly, and those who call the issue the state's top problem generally prefer the GOP approach. But overall, Virginians give Democrats a narrow edge on handling immigration, and more voters would like to see the Democrats take over the state legislature.
"I think Democrats would have a better solution," said Barbara Humphreys, 57, of Buena Vista, who ranks immigration as a top issue, along with the economy and the war in Iraq.
Political analysts say Democrats could make gains in the Republican-led legislature Nov. 6, when all 140 House and Senate seats are up for grabs. Democrats could take control of the Senate for the first time since 1999 and pick up a half-dozen or so seats in the House of Delegates, analysts say.
A majority of Virginians, 53 percent, said they want state and local governments to do "a lot" to deal with illegal immigration; an additional third said they want "some" action.
Although state and local governments can do little to resolve immigration concerns, in part because federal and state laws provide many protections for illegal immigrants, six in 10 likely Virginia voters said they would be more inclined to support an office seeker who advocated aggressive state and local action against illegal immigrants.
"I think we need to strengthen our borders," said Lori Robinson, 45, of Norfolk, who plans to vote for Republicans next month, partly because she thinks they would be stronger on immigration. "I'm looking for someone to stand up and say, 'This is what this country needs.' You want to help everyone, but you can't."
"Clearly there's a lot of frustration with the broken immigration system," said Tim Freilich, legal director for the Virginia Justice Center for Farm and Immigrant Workers. "What we're seeing are state and local elected officials trying to do something. What we need now is comprehensive immigration reform. We don't need mean-spirited, shortsighted results."
In recent months, Prince William and Loudoun counties have voted to curtail government services to illegal immigrants, and Herndon voted to close a controversial day-laborer center frequented by many illegal immigrants. Last week, the Prince William board also unanimously passed a proposal that will allow police to check the immigration status of anyone who breaks the law. Fairfax officials are trying to determine which county services can be denied to illegal immigrants, although they haven't decided to do that.
Republicans dispute the notion that they are exploiting the immigration issue to gain political advantage, saying they are responding to complaints from voters. "If you're hyping a nonissue, you wouldn't get these results," Stewart said.
Gerald E. Connolly (D), who is running for reelection as chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said many politicians are making false claims about what they can do.
"Some politicians have declared open season on a particular group of immigrants who are here that goes way beyond unpalatable. It puts people at risk. I can tell you I've spoken to a lot of immigrant communities. This has made them very anxious. We have a sad history in Virginia that we don't want to repeat," Connolly said.
Nearly seven in 10 Virginians polled said the federal government has not done enough to deal with the issue. But many also see illegal immigration as a state and local issue -- and not one that the federal government alone should address.
About one in eight Virginians call immigration the most or second-most important problem in the state. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said illegal immigration is a problem where they live, including 20 percent who said it is a "very serious problem."
Steve Fowler, 57, a consultant who lives in Manassas, describes immigration and transportation as his top issues after abortion. "To me, the issue is . . . whether they broke the law to come here," he said.
But Bill Maxwell, 70, a retiree who has lived in Alexandria for four decades, said immigration is not a top priority. "I think Republicans are making a big deal out of it," said Maxwell, who has voted for both parties in the past but plans to vote Democratic in November.
On most questions about immigration, there are wide differences by party and region.
Although 58 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of independents want much more local action on illegal immigration, fewer Democrats, 43 percent, do. And almost three-quarters of Republicans are more likely to support a candidate who wants strong action against illegal immigrants, nearly double the percentage among Democrats.
"Republicans would do a better job," said Pat Holub, 42, who is in the Navy and lives in Springfield. "Liberals have a tendency to want to do everything for everybody."
Nearly a third of likely voters who live north of the Rappahannock River said immigration was one of the top two issues in the state, and 77 percent said illegal immigration was a problem in their communities; 37 percent called it a very serious problem.
Those numbers surged higher in Prince William, where half of all residents called immigration the most or second-most important issue facing the state and a majority classified illegal immigration as a very serious local problem.
Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that advocates limits on immigration and penalties for illegal immigrants, called the poll results surprising because immigration has not been an issue taken on by a statewide leader in Virginia as it has in some states.
Beck attributed some of the interest to increased attention to immigration by the media and to the enormous alterations in the state's landscape.
"People across Virginia, especially in Northern Virginia, they are witnessing a rapid change," he said.
The poll was conducted by telephone Oct. 4 through 8 among a random sample of 1,144 Virginia adults, including additional interviews with randomly selected residents of Loudoun and Prince William counties. The results from the full poll have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points; it is larger among subgroups.
Polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta and staff writer Bill Turque contributed to this report.
mn
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
As Hundreds Testify, Pr. William's Vote on Immigrant Plan Goes Late (Sarah)
As Hundreds Testify, Pr. William's Vote on Immigrant Plan Goes Late
By Nick Miroff and Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 17, 2007; A01
A vote to enact Prince William County's nationally watched plan to crack down on illegal immigrants was delayed into the night yesterday after a huge public turnout produced a marathon session of emotional public testimony.
More than 1,200 people packed the county government complex in Woodbridge and the streets outside yesterday afternoon, creating a charged -- and at times tense -- atmosphere. As the Board of County Supervisors meeting began, supporters and opponents of the measures scuffled in the street before police pulled the two sides apart, threatening to make arrests.
The confrontation underscored the intense debate playing out in communities across the country, where an increasing number of jurisdictions have been taking steps to clamp down on illegal immigrants after Congress failed to pass immigration overhaul measures.
"This is America!" activists yelled from the anti-illegal immigrant group Help Save Manassas as they were restrained by police.
Opposite them, several hundred residents, mostly Hispanic, responded with a deafening chant of "¿S¿, se puede!" ("Yes, we can!").
The tension in Woodbridge came as officials in Fairfax County and Richmond also turned their attention to the issue yesterday. Fairfax's county executive said he would begin studying which services might be restricted to illegal immigrants. In Richmond, officials rejected a proposal to build a 1,000-bed detention center where illegal immigrants could be temporarily held for deportation. Instead, the Virginia Crime Commission's immigration task force approved a proposal to give more money to local governments to house arrested illegal immigrants and to expand or build jails.
But the real drama was in Prince William, and it wasn't confined to the street. About 375 people signed up to address the supervisors during the public comment period; early today, dozens of people were still waiting to speak. When the board's chairman, Corey A. Stewart (R), who has made illegal immigration the signature issue of his reelection campaign, moved at the outset to reduce the time allotted for each speaker from three minutes to one, Supervisor Maureen S. Caddigan (R-Dumfries) sought to block the measure.
Caddigan and other board members have criticized Stewart for using $30,000 in public money to send postcards to every Prince William household notifying residents of the board's vote. Stewart should not invite residents to the meeting and then restrict their right to speak, Caddigan argued.
The motion was put to a vote, and five of the board's other seven members, including three Republicans, agreed with Caddigan.
Nine hours later, the supervisors were still hearing public testimony and not begun a discussion of the proposal to fully implement the anti-illegal immigrant policies. At one point late into the session, Supervisor Hilda M. Barg (D-Woodbridge) said Stewart had left the board chambers to conduct television interviews and asked to delay proceedings until he returned.
The measures considered yesterday would authorize police to conduct immigration checks on anyone accused of breaking a law or local ordinance if an officer suspects that person is an illegal immigrant.
The measures also would deny certain county services to illegal immigrants.
But with a projected 14 percent decline in property values, several supervisors have expressed concern about funding the measures, opting two weeks ago to delay the vote until yesterday.
With the Nov. 6 election approaching and all of the supervisors up for reelection, the county's illegal-immigration policies have become a dominant campaign issue. Stewart has pushed hard for the new measures to be approved before Election Day, angering fellow board members.
But for hours yesterday afternoon and deep into the night, the podium belonged to residents, highlighting how visceral the issue has become.
Children of immigrants, standing on stools, asked board members not to hurt their parents.
Others pointed out that illegal immigrants are breaking the law. "Where do you get off demanding services, rights and mandatory citizenship?" said Manassas resident Robert Stephens, addressing the crowd of Hispanic residents. "Who invited you? You cry for your rights? You have none."
County officials said they knew that the crowd would be large but that they hadn't anticipated more than 1,000 people. Office doors, which normally remain open, were locked and required codes to get in. People spilled out of the board's chambers and the building's atrium, which together hold several hundred people.
One woman was dressed like the Statue of Liberty. Another said she had time to go home and prepare dinner before coming back to address the board.
A roughly equal number of opponents and supporters of the policies signed up to speak, but not everyone chose to address the supervisors directly. About 1,000 opponents of the measures rallied outside, many in green T-shirts asking the board to rescind the resolution, and a much smaller group wearing the red stickers of Help Save Manassas rallied nearby.
Even more people were in attendance yesterday than at the board's July 10 meeting, when the supervisors unanimously approved the plans to deny some public services to illegal immigrants and increase immigration enforcement by police. Yesterday's vote would be more specific, naming the county services that would be denied and allocating the money to carry out the policy. The July vote prompted similar proposals in Loudoun and Culpeper counties and elsewhere in the region.
But the Prince William measures would be the most extensive. Police officials emphasize that they would not be conducting immigration sweeps or setting up checkpoints, as some have feared, and that it would take months to put the measures into practice. More than 500 county police officers would need to be trained in the nuances of federal immigration law. Yesterday's vote was also scheduled to address the creation of a seven-officer Criminal Alien Unit that would work directly with federal immigration agents.
The county's plan to deny services has evolved since it was first proposed. Services such as access to schools and emergency medical care are federally protected, and illegal immigrants are already ineligible for benefits such as Medicare and food stamps.
Instead, Prince William has pinpointed a more limited set of services and benefits, including substance abuse counseling, homeless assistance and in-home care and other county programs for the elderly. County officials said they are not sure how many illegal immigrants are taking advantage of these programs or how much money would be saved by curbing them.
Experts say the county policies are untested in court. A group of 22 plaintiffs has filed a lawsuit against the county and its top officials seeking to block the measures, claiming that they violate equal protection laws and that immigration enforcement is a federal concern.
In Richmond yesterday, state officials rejected the controversial proposal to build the detention center, where illegal immigrants arrested for certain crimes could be held until federal officials deport them.
"I don't think there is support in the General Assembly or with the public for building a stand-alone facility," said state Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle (R-Virginia Beach), chairman of the Crime Commission.
The detention center would have been the country's first state-run facility built to hold only illegal immigrants accused of crimes. Currently, illegal immigrants who are arrested are held in local jails, federal facilities and private prisons. Under the new proposal, localities would be allowed to keep all of the money the federal government sends them to house federal inmates, including illegal immigrants, instead of giving a share to the state. Sheriffs also would start to receive 50 percent, instead of 25 percent, of the cost of expanding or building jails.
The 22-member task force killed the detention proposal during a more than four-hour meeting yesterday. It approved 18 other proposals that will be considered by the full Crime Commission next month.
Staff writer Anita Kumar contributed to this report from Richmond.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
By Nick Miroff and Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 17, 2007; A01
A vote to enact Prince William County's nationally watched plan to crack down on illegal immigrants was delayed into the night yesterday after a huge public turnout produced a marathon session of emotional public testimony.
More than 1,200 people packed the county government complex in Woodbridge and the streets outside yesterday afternoon, creating a charged -- and at times tense -- atmosphere. As the Board of County Supervisors meeting began, supporters and opponents of the measures scuffled in the street before police pulled the two sides apart, threatening to make arrests.
The confrontation underscored the intense debate playing out in communities across the country, where an increasing number of jurisdictions have been taking steps to clamp down on illegal immigrants after Congress failed to pass immigration overhaul measures.
"This is America!" activists yelled from the anti-illegal immigrant group Help Save Manassas as they were restrained by police.
Opposite them, several hundred residents, mostly Hispanic, responded with a deafening chant of "¿S¿, se puede!" ("Yes, we can!").
The tension in Woodbridge came as officials in Fairfax County and Richmond also turned their attention to the issue yesterday. Fairfax's county executive said he would begin studying which services might be restricted to illegal immigrants. In Richmond, officials rejected a proposal to build a 1,000-bed detention center where illegal immigrants could be temporarily held for deportation. Instead, the Virginia Crime Commission's immigration task force approved a proposal to give more money to local governments to house arrested illegal immigrants and to expand or build jails.
But the real drama was in Prince William, and it wasn't confined to the street. About 375 people signed up to address the supervisors during the public comment period; early today, dozens of people were still waiting to speak. When the board's chairman, Corey A. Stewart (R), who has made illegal immigration the signature issue of his reelection campaign, moved at the outset to reduce the time allotted for each speaker from three minutes to one, Supervisor Maureen S. Caddigan (R-Dumfries) sought to block the measure.
Caddigan and other board members have criticized Stewart for using $30,000 in public money to send postcards to every Prince William household notifying residents of the board's vote. Stewart should not invite residents to the meeting and then restrict their right to speak, Caddigan argued.
The motion was put to a vote, and five of the board's other seven members, including three Republicans, agreed with Caddigan.
Nine hours later, the supervisors were still hearing public testimony and not begun a discussion of the proposal to fully implement the anti-illegal immigrant policies. At one point late into the session, Supervisor Hilda M. Barg (D-Woodbridge) said Stewart had left the board chambers to conduct television interviews and asked to delay proceedings until he returned.
The measures considered yesterday would authorize police to conduct immigration checks on anyone accused of breaking a law or local ordinance if an officer suspects that person is an illegal immigrant.
The measures also would deny certain county services to illegal immigrants.
But with a projected 14 percent decline in property values, several supervisors have expressed concern about funding the measures, opting two weeks ago to delay the vote until yesterday.
With the Nov. 6 election approaching and all of the supervisors up for reelection, the county's illegal-immigration policies have become a dominant campaign issue. Stewart has pushed hard for the new measures to be approved before Election Day, angering fellow board members.
But for hours yesterday afternoon and deep into the night, the podium belonged to residents, highlighting how visceral the issue has become.
Children of immigrants, standing on stools, asked board members not to hurt their parents.
Others pointed out that illegal immigrants are breaking the law. "Where do you get off demanding services, rights and mandatory citizenship?" said Manassas resident Robert Stephens, addressing the crowd of Hispanic residents. "Who invited you? You cry for your rights? You have none."
County officials said they knew that the crowd would be large but that they hadn't anticipated more than 1,000 people. Office doors, which normally remain open, were locked and required codes to get in. People spilled out of the board's chambers and the building's atrium, which together hold several hundred people.
One woman was dressed like the Statue of Liberty. Another said she had time to go home and prepare dinner before coming back to address the board.
A roughly equal number of opponents and supporters of the policies signed up to speak, but not everyone chose to address the supervisors directly. About 1,000 opponents of the measures rallied outside, many in green T-shirts asking the board to rescind the resolution, and a much smaller group wearing the red stickers of Help Save Manassas rallied nearby.
Even more people were in attendance yesterday than at the board's July 10 meeting, when the supervisors unanimously approved the plans to deny some public services to illegal immigrants and increase immigration enforcement by police. Yesterday's vote would be more specific, naming the county services that would be denied and allocating the money to carry out the policy. The July vote prompted similar proposals in Loudoun and Culpeper counties and elsewhere in the region.
But the Prince William measures would be the most extensive. Police officials emphasize that they would not be conducting immigration sweeps or setting up checkpoints, as some have feared, and that it would take months to put the measures into practice. More than 500 county police officers would need to be trained in the nuances of federal immigration law. Yesterday's vote was also scheduled to address the creation of a seven-officer Criminal Alien Unit that would work directly with federal immigration agents.
The county's plan to deny services has evolved since it was first proposed. Services such as access to schools and emergency medical care are federally protected, and illegal immigrants are already ineligible for benefits such as Medicare and food stamps.
Instead, Prince William has pinpointed a more limited set of services and benefits, including substance abuse counseling, homeless assistance and in-home care and other county programs for the elderly. County officials said they are not sure how many illegal immigrants are taking advantage of these programs or how much money would be saved by curbing them.
Experts say the county policies are untested in court. A group of 22 plaintiffs has filed a lawsuit against the county and its top officials seeking to block the measures, claiming that they violate equal protection laws and that immigration enforcement is a federal concern.
In Richmond yesterday, state officials rejected the controversial proposal to build the detention center, where illegal immigrants arrested for certain crimes could be held until federal officials deport them.
"I don't think there is support in the General Assembly or with the public for building a stand-alone facility," said state Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle (R-Virginia Beach), chairman of the Crime Commission.
The detention center would have been the country's first state-run facility built to hold only illegal immigrants accused of crimes. Currently, illegal immigrants who are arrested are held in local jails, federal facilities and private prisons. Under the new proposal, localities would be allowed to keep all of the money the federal government sends them to house federal inmates, including illegal immigrants, instead of giving a share to the state. Sheriffs also would start to receive 50 percent, instead of 25 percent, of the cost of expanding or building jails.
The 22-member task force killed the detention proposal during a more than four-hour meeting yesterday. It approved 18 other proposals that will be considered by the full Crime Commission next month.
Staff writer Anita Kumar contributed to this report from Richmond.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
New Fear Leads Both Legal, Illegal Latinos To Leave Pr. William (Sarah)
New Fear Leads Both Legal, Illegal Latinos To Leave Pr. William
Random Sweeps Are a Worry
By N.C. Aizenman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 22, 2007; A01
Supporters of the anti-illegal immigration measure adopted in Prince William County last week have argued that its most important purpose is to send a powerful signal to the county's mostly Latino illegal immigrants that they are no longer welcome.
It appears the message has already been received: Terrified that new policies will lead to mass deportations, illegal immigrants and the many legal immigrant relatives and friends who live with them have been moving out of Prince William ever since July, when county supervisors first approved the plan's outline.
The size of the migration is difficult to measure, particularly during a year when slumping housing prices and skyrocketing foreclosures have led many residents to move for purely economic reasons.
Still, signs of the growing climate of fear are everywhere.
At the Freetown Market, a convenience store in a heavily Latino section of Woodbridge that offers U-Haul trucks for hire, one-way rentals have jumped from between 10 and 20 a month just before July to about 40 a month today.
In the same strip mall, at a money-transfer store where the customer line to pay utility bills once snaked out the door, business has slowed so dramatically the past three months that one clerk has been let go and the remaining one spends most of her time on the computer, e-mailing gloomy updates to relatives back home in Guatemala.
A few doors down, staff workers at the IMA English language academy will soon be taking the American flag decorations off the walls and moving to a smaller space, because the number of students has plummeted from 350 to about 60 since July.
"There is a mass panic," said the academy's owner, Roberto Catacora. "Those who haven't already moved away don't dare step outside their houses."
Although one of the new measures directs county police to check the immigration status of only criminal suspects, many immigrants think that all Latinos will be subject to random sweeps, Catacora added.
The effect on his once-bustling academy was palpable on a recent weeknight, when all but one of the six classrooms were deserted.
Among the absent students was Jose Luis Pubeac, 42, a day laborer who sneaked into the country 18 months ago. He was busy preparing for his flight back to El Salvador on Saturday.
"I was already thinking of going home, because I was having such a hard time finding work," said Pubeac, speaking on his cellphone as he raced around picking up presents for his five children back home. "But this law convinced me it was time. [They] hate us so much here."
Most departing immigrants, however, appear to be moving closer afield, choosing states such as North Carolina or neighboring counties such as Prince George's or Arlington that they perceive as less hostile.
In August, Walter Ramirez settled on Alexandria.
A 29-year-old construction worker, Ramirez was not personally at risk from Prince William's crackdown because he has a temporary permit granted to many Salvadorans when an earthquake devastated their country in 2001.
But his roommates were a different story. And after the July resolution was adopted, they were overcome with stifling paranoia.
"I used to walk over to the supermarket every day to pick up food or a phone card or just to hang out," recalled one roommate, a 22-year-old from Honduras who sneaked into the United States three years ago. "But suddenly it seemed like there were so many police officers there, so I limited myself to once a week. It was so stressful, because you feel totally locked up, like you're a prisoner in your own home," he added, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Ramirez nodded his head sympathetically. The two were sitting on a large tan couch that took up almost the entire living room of their new home, a walled-off section of a ramshackle colonial house on a leafy cul-de-sac.
The cramped quarters are a step down from the well-kept apartment they rented in Woodbridge, where each man paid $275 a month for his own room and had access to the nicely landscaped complex's swimming pool. In Alexandria, they pay $400 each for shared rooms, make do with a hot plate in place of a stove and are no longer walking distance from friends and shops.
"It's a more isolated life here, and that's a sacrifice. But I had no choice," Ramirez said. "My buddies are like my family. I can't live in a place where they are going to be persecuted."
Several real estate agents who serve Latino immigrants predicted that more people will reach the same conclusion as Ramirez now that the Prince William Board of County Supervisors has given final approval to the anti-illegal immigration measure.
"This is not something that only affects the undocumented," agent Rosie Vilchez said. "Because in the same family, it's so common to have some people who are citizens, some people who are residents and some who are undocumented. And those with papers are going to do whatever is necessary to protect those without."
Within hours of the board's vote, Salvadoran-born Aracely Diaz instructed her real estate agent to put her townhouse on the market.
Diaz, a supermarket checkout clerk, was one of nearly 400 people who waited for hours to comment on the bill during the marathon pre-vote session that stretched into Wednesday's wee hours.
"Even after they passed that July resolution, I had hope that [the supervisors] would change their minds," said Diaz, 37, who has legal status but worries about relatives who do not.
Now, she noted bitterly, "I'll be selling at a loss. But I don't care. I no longer have any affection for this place that treats us this way. I just want to get out."
Jose Ventura, a Salvadoran mason renting an apartment in Manassas, cites similar reasons for his decision to move not just his residence but also his business to Maryland.
Ventura, 38, who came to the United States seven years ago and then received the temporary protected status because of the earthquake in his homeland, smiled ruefully as he recalled the sense of possibility that suffused Prince William back then. "Oh, it was so great. There was so much work," he said.
He took two jobs to save enough to start a masonry company, then built it into a 35-person operation.
But a slowdown in the construction industry has forced Ventura to cut his workforce to 15 people. Meanwhile, his plan to buy a new house and offset some of the mortgage by renting some of the rooms backfired after county residents called for a crackdown on overcrowding. A few days ago, the bank foreclosed on the property, wiping out all $80,000 of his savings and leaving him $20,000 in debt.
The supervisors' unanimous approval of the anti-illegal immigration resolution struck Ventura as the last straw.
"I feel like when this county was growing, when they needed us, they welcomed us Latinos with open arms," he said. "But now that the county is all grown up and times are hard, it's totally turned its back on us. They are so ungrateful."
Random Sweeps Are a Worry
By N.C. Aizenman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 22, 2007; A01
Supporters of the anti-illegal immigration measure adopted in Prince William County last week have argued that its most important purpose is to send a powerful signal to the county's mostly Latino illegal immigrants that they are no longer welcome.
It appears the message has already been received: Terrified that new policies will lead to mass deportations, illegal immigrants and the many legal immigrant relatives and friends who live with them have been moving out of Prince William ever since July, when county supervisors first approved the plan's outline.
The size of the migration is difficult to measure, particularly during a year when slumping housing prices and skyrocketing foreclosures have led many residents to move for purely economic reasons.
Still, signs of the growing climate of fear are everywhere.
At the Freetown Market, a convenience store in a heavily Latino section of Woodbridge that offers U-Haul trucks for hire, one-way rentals have jumped from between 10 and 20 a month just before July to about 40 a month today.
In the same strip mall, at a money-transfer store where the customer line to pay utility bills once snaked out the door, business has slowed so dramatically the past three months that one clerk has been let go and the remaining one spends most of her time on the computer, e-mailing gloomy updates to relatives back home in Guatemala.
A few doors down, staff workers at the IMA English language academy will soon be taking the American flag decorations off the walls and moving to a smaller space, because the number of students has plummeted from 350 to about 60 since July.
"There is a mass panic," said the academy's owner, Roberto Catacora. "Those who haven't already moved away don't dare step outside their houses."
Although one of the new measures directs county police to check the immigration status of only criminal suspects, many immigrants think that all Latinos will be subject to random sweeps, Catacora added.
The effect on his once-bustling academy was palpable on a recent weeknight, when all but one of the six classrooms were deserted.
Among the absent students was Jose Luis Pubeac, 42, a day laborer who sneaked into the country 18 months ago. He was busy preparing for his flight back to El Salvador on Saturday.
"I was already thinking of going home, because I was having such a hard time finding work," said Pubeac, speaking on his cellphone as he raced around picking up presents for his five children back home. "But this law convinced me it was time. [They] hate us so much here."
Most departing immigrants, however, appear to be moving closer afield, choosing states such as North Carolina or neighboring counties such as Prince George's or Arlington that they perceive as less hostile.
In August, Walter Ramirez settled on Alexandria.
A 29-year-old construction worker, Ramirez was not personally at risk from Prince William's crackdown because he has a temporary permit granted to many Salvadorans when an earthquake devastated their country in 2001.
But his roommates were a different story. And after the July resolution was adopted, they were overcome with stifling paranoia.
"I used to walk over to the supermarket every day to pick up food or a phone card or just to hang out," recalled one roommate, a 22-year-old from Honduras who sneaked into the United States three years ago. "But suddenly it seemed like there were so many police officers there, so I limited myself to once a week. It was so stressful, because you feel totally locked up, like you're a prisoner in your own home," he added, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Ramirez nodded his head sympathetically. The two were sitting on a large tan couch that took up almost the entire living room of their new home, a walled-off section of a ramshackle colonial house on a leafy cul-de-sac.
The cramped quarters are a step down from the well-kept apartment they rented in Woodbridge, where each man paid $275 a month for his own room and had access to the nicely landscaped complex's swimming pool. In Alexandria, they pay $400 each for shared rooms, make do with a hot plate in place of a stove and are no longer walking distance from friends and shops.
"It's a more isolated life here, and that's a sacrifice. But I had no choice," Ramirez said. "My buddies are like my family. I can't live in a place where they are going to be persecuted."
Several real estate agents who serve Latino immigrants predicted that more people will reach the same conclusion as Ramirez now that the Prince William Board of County Supervisors has given final approval to the anti-illegal immigration measure.
"This is not something that only affects the undocumented," agent Rosie Vilchez said. "Because in the same family, it's so common to have some people who are citizens, some people who are residents and some who are undocumented. And those with papers are going to do whatever is necessary to protect those without."
Within hours of the board's vote, Salvadoran-born Aracely Diaz instructed her real estate agent to put her townhouse on the market.
Diaz, a supermarket checkout clerk, was one of nearly 400 people who waited for hours to comment on the bill during the marathon pre-vote session that stretched into Wednesday's wee hours.
"Even after they passed that July resolution, I had hope that [the supervisors] would change their minds," said Diaz, 37, who has legal status but worries about relatives who do not.
Now, she noted bitterly, "I'll be selling at a loss. But I don't care. I no longer have any affection for this place that treats us this way. I just want to get out."
Jose Ventura, a Salvadoran mason renting an apartment in Manassas, cites similar reasons for his decision to move not just his residence but also his business to Maryland.
Ventura, 38, who came to the United States seven years ago and then received the temporary protected status because of the earthquake in his homeland, smiled ruefully as he recalled the sense of possibility that suffused Prince William back then. "Oh, it was so great. There was so much work," he said.
He took two jobs to save enough to start a masonry company, then built it into a 35-person operation.
But a slowdown in the construction industry has forced Ventura to cut his workforce to 15 people. Meanwhile, his plan to buy a new house and offset some of the mortgage by renting some of the rooms backfired after county residents called for a crackdown on overcrowding. A few days ago, the bank foreclosed on the property, wiping out all $80,000 of his savings and leaving him $20,000 in debt.
The supervisors' unanimous approval of the anti-illegal immigration resolution struck Ventura as the last straw.
"I feel like when this county was growing, when they needed us, they welcomed us Latinos with open arms," he said. "But now that the county is all grown up and times are hard, it's totally turned its back on us. They are so ungrateful."
After Vote, Pr. William Immigrant Plan Faces Hurdles (Sarah)
After Vote, Pr. William Immigrant Plan Faces Hurdles
By Nick Miroff and Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 18, 2007; A01
Within months, traffic stops in Prince William County may carry serious consequences for thousands of residents, as police officers begin checking the immigration status of anyone who breaks the law, whether for speeding or shoplifting, if they believe that person is in the country illegally.
With their unanimous vote early yesterday, the county supervisors also cut off certain services to illegal immigrants who are homeless, elderly or addicted to drugs.
The supervisors have yet to determine how they will pay for enforcement of the policies. But in a raw, emotional sense, the perception of the changes coming to Prince William has outpaced the reality of funding limitations and other practical matters.
"We get the looks," said Yolanda Lemus, a Salvadoran-born U.S. citizen who lives in Woodbridge. "I've felt it since this whole thing first came out. You don't have to be a criminal."
Lemus, an administrative assistant, said she was too upset to go to work this morning after she learned that the Board of County Supervisors had voted 8 to 0 to proceed with its closely followed crackdown. She was one of nearly 400 speakers who lined up to address the supervisors during a 12-hour public comment period that stretched into early yesterday.
More than 1,200 people showed up at the county's government complex in Woodbridge for the vote, the majority of them Hispanics opposed to the measures. Many were stunned that their impassioned pleas failed to stir a single dissenting vote.
"I'm so ashamed," Lemus said. "I cannot believe I live here right now."
Jane Mee, who supported the measures, cheered the vote. "It takes guts for the county to do this," she said. "It shows strength and leadership. We cannot bear the burden of illegal immigration any longer."
A similar debate is playing out in communities across the country, where an increasing number of jurisdictions have been taking steps to clamp down on illegal immigrants after Congress failed to pass immigration overhaul measures.
The resolution approved yesterday contains two provisions addressing concerns raised by residents who say the new measures will lead to racial profiling and discrimination. It calls for a public education campaign to ease fears and directs the county to partner with a university or consulting group to review the measures' fairness after two years.
Police Chief Charlie T. Deane has appeared on Spanish-language radio stations to explain the policies and has allocated $25,000 for informational purposes, saying that misconceptions are widespread on both sides of the debate.
"On the one hand, many people expect us to do more," Deane said. "And I think there is a perception that the things police have done in the past as part of their normal duties, such as sobriety checkpoints, are now seen as asking for documents."
"In reality, officers will be carrying out their duties as they normally have," he said.
Under the new rules, officers will cooperate more closely with federal immigration authorities and check the status of anyone who breaks a law or local ordinance if there is probable cause to believe the person is an illegal immigrant. Officials say routine traffic stops may last several hours, as patrol officers sort through foreign identification cards and visa categories and consult with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
But Deane said county police will not enforce the measures until all of his 537 officers are trained in determining legal status, which will take months. Classes won't begin until at least January.
A seven-officer Criminal Alien Unit created by the board's vote yesterday won't materialize overnight, either. First, the officers will need to be trained by federal agents, and the county is waiting in line along with dozens of other localities targeting illegal immigrants.
Furthermore, Deane said the new measures are primarily designed to snare illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds. Although county officers will have the power to check the immigration status of anyone who breaks the law, federal agents will still need to determine what to do next and aren't capable of picking up every illegal immigrant with a broken taillight. Those released will have their personal information forwarded to immigration agents, who may initiate deportation proceedings.
"This is a responsible, careful and measured approach. This is not the broad and sweeping end-all solution," said Greg Letiecq, a conservative blogger and president of Help Save Manassas, the grass-roots organization that helped draft the measures and lobbied hard for their approval.
Legal experts say the county policies are untested in court. A group of 22 plaintiffs has filed a lawsuit against the county and its top officials in federal court seeking to block the measures, claiming that they violate equal protection laws and that immigration enforcement is a federal concern.
The supervisors committed just $325,000 yesterday toward the police measures, which are projected to cost $14.2 million over five years. County staff members have said that the costs will be minimal for the new service restrictions.
Programs that are now off-limits for illegal immigrants include bus tours for senior citizens, leadership training programs for adults, and rental and mortgage assistance. The measures also prohibit illegal immigrants from getting business licenses.
Deane said that the $325,000 was "start-up" funding and that he would return to ask the supervisors for the rest of the money they have pledged. No price tag was attached to the public education campaign or the county's planned partnership with a university or consulting group. But the board's chairman, Corey A. Stewart (R), who is campaigning for reelection as an illegal-immigration "fighter," said he expected those costs to be "nominal."
"We're getting a big bang for the buck here," Stewart said before the supervisors' meeting. "The overall budget for Prince William County is $2 billion," he said, calling the measures "a drop in the bucket."
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By Nick Miroff and Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 18, 2007; A01
Within months, traffic stops in Prince William County may carry serious consequences for thousands of residents, as police officers begin checking the immigration status of anyone who breaks the law, whether for speeding or shoplifting, if they believe that person is in the country illegally.
With their unanimous vote early yesterday, the county supervisors also cut off certain services to illegal immigrants who are homeless, elderly or addicted to drugs.
The supervisors have yet to determine how they will pay for enforcement of the policies. But in a raw, emotional sense, the perception of the changes coming to Prince William has outpaced the reality of funding limitations and other practical matters.
"We get the looks," said Yolanda Lemus, a Salvadoran-born U.S. citizen who lives in Woodbridge. "I've felt it since this whole thing first came out. You don't have to be a criminal."
Lemus, an administrative assistant, said she was too upset to go to work this morning after she learned that the Board of County Supervisors had voted 8 to 0 to proceed with its closely followed crackdown. She was one of nearly 400 speakers who lined up to address the supervisors during a 12-hour public comment period that stretched into early yesterday.
More than 1,200 people showed up at the county's government complex in Woodbridge for the vote, the majority of them Hispanics opposed to the measures. Many were stunned that their impassioned pleas failed to stir a single dissenting vote.
"I'm so ashamed," Lemus said. "I cannot believe I live here right now."
Jane Mee, who supported the measures, cheered the vote. "It takes guts for the county to do this," she said. "It shows strength and leadership. We cannot bear the burden of illegal immigration any longer."
A similar debate is playing out in communities across the country, where an increasing number of jurisdictions have been taking steps to clamp down on illegal immigrants after Congress failed to pass immigration overhaul measures.
The resolution approved yesterday contains two provisions addressing concerns raised by residents who say the new measures will lead to racial profiling and discrimination. It calls for a public education campaign to ease fears and directs the county to partner with a university or consulting group to review the measures' fairness after two years.
Police Chief Charlie T. Deane has appeared on Spanish-language radio stations to explain the policies and has allocated $25,000 for informational purposes, saying that misconceptions are widespread on both sides of the debate.
"On the one hand, many people expect us to do more," Deane said. "And I think there is a perception that the things police have done in the past as part of their normal duties, such as sobriety checkpoints, are now seen as asking for documents."
"In reality, officers will be carrying out their duties as they normally have," he said.
Under the new rules, officers will cooperate more closely with federal immigration authorities and check the status of anyone who breaks a law or local ordinance if there is probable cause to believe the person is an illegal immigrant. Officials say routine traffic stops may last several hours, as patrol officers sort through foreign identification cards and visa categories and consult with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
But Deane said county police will not enforce the measures until all of his 537 officers are trained in determining legal status, which will take months. Classes won't begin until at least January.
A seven-officer Criminal Alien Unit created by the board's vote yesterday won't materialize overnight, either. First, the officers will need to be trained by federal agents, and the county is waiting in line along with dozens of other localities targeting illegal immigrants.
Furthermore, Deane said the new measures are primarily designed to snare illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds. Although county officers will have the power to check the immigration status of anyone who breaks the law, federal agents will still need to determine what to do next and aren't capable of picking up every illegal immigrant with a broken taillight. Those released will have their personal information forwarded to immigration agents, who may initiate deportation proceedings.
"This is a responsible, careful and measured approach. This is not the broad and sweeping end-all solution," said Greg Letiecq, a conservative blogger and president of Help Save Manassas, the grass-roots organization that helped draft the measures and lobbied hard for their approval.
Legal experts say the county policies are untested in court. A group of 22 plaintiffs has filed a lawsuit against the county and its top officials in federal court seeking to block the measures, claiming that they violate equal protection laws and that immigration enforcement is a federal concern.
The supervisors committed just $325,000 yesterday toward the police measures, which are projected to cost $14.2 million over five years. County staff members have said that the costs will be minimal for the new service restrictions.
Programs that are now off-limits for illegal immigrants include bus tours for senior citizens, leadership training programs for adults, and rental and mortgage assistance. The measures also prohibit illegal immigrants from getting business licenses.
Deane said that the $325,000 was "start-up" funding and that he would return to ask the supervisors for the rest of the money they have pledged. No price tag was attached to the public education campaign or the county's planned partnership with a university or consulting group. But the board's chairman, Corey A. Stewart (R), who is campaigning for reelection as an illegal-immigration "fighter," said he expected those costs to be "nominal."
"We're getting a big bang for the buck here," Stewart said before the supervisors' meeting. "The overall budget for Prince William County is $2 billion," he said, calling the measures "a drop in the bucket."
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
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