Loudoun Approves Measure Targeting Illegal Immigrants

Some supervisors voted reluctantly in favor of the resolution, which was a last-minute addition to the agenda. The proposal was announced in an e-mail sent by Delgaudio on Monday afternoon. By late Monday, all six Republicans on the nine-member board had signed on as co-sponsors. But the board's two independents and lone Democrat were not contacted, and they hurried to study the resolution before yesterday's vote.

Loudoun Supervisor James Burton (I-Blue Ridge) complained that he was being "railroaded" on a complex and sensitive issue. "To be handed a resolution on the day we meet, and to be asked to vote on it without understanding the consequences or the content of that resolution, is irresponsible," he said.

But the resolution's co-sponsors said putting it off until the next meeting in September was unnecessary. The county administrator and attorney will have six weeks to study the issue, they said, allowing the board to make clear-headed decisions in the fall.

"It's time for people like us to stand up and start defending and preserving the communities that we represent," said Mick Staton Jr. (R-Sugarland Run). "Hopefully, if enough local governments in this region and other regions start doing this, maybe the message will get up to those folks on Capitol Hill, and maybe they'll start doing something."

Opponents pointed out that all board seats are up in the fall election, and illegal immigration has become a key campaign issue.

"It's all politics trying to create fear in people," said Thom Beres, chairman of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee. "Where do you draw the line? How do you enforce it? Do you spend millions of dollars trying to enforce it?"

Budzinski and others believe some of the problems in eastern Loudoun stem from the Herndon day-laborer center, where workers -- legal or not -- can go to find landscaping and construction jobs. The site sits on the border with Loudoun. Although Herndon officials have promised to keep clients from entering the building from the Loudoun side, Loudoun residents say the clients often loiter at a 7-Eleven and elsewhere within the county limits.

Yesterday, the board voted to send a letter to Herndon officials urging them to check the immigration status of workers there before providing services.