Va. GOP Seizes on 'Red-Hot' Concern

As Virginia Senate candidate Bob FitzSimmonds heads out each day to knock on doors in Prince William County, he brings extra copies of his latest brochure, the one addressing a single issue: illegal immigration.

FitzSimmonds, a conservative Republican running an uphill race to unseat longtime Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William), said he hears more from voters about illegal immigration than any issue except transportation. The Senate district includes Manassas, Manassas Park and part of Prince William, to which thousands of immigrants have moved in recent years.

"Immigration is definitely a problem," Patty Jenkins, 49, told FitzSimmonds as she and her husband cleaned their garage one recent day.

Candidates across the state, particularly in the increasingly diverse Northern Virginia suburbs, are hearing multiple sides of the immigration issue during visits to neighborhoods, fairs and community meetings. How they respond could help determine the outcome of the Nov. 6 elections for all 140 House and Senate seats.

"It's red-hot," said Sen. James K. "Jay" O'Brien Jr. (R-Fairfax). "Immigration is an issue everywhere in Virginia. Any candidate that speaks with confidence about [requiring immigrants to have a] legal presence will generate a terrific response."

Heightened interest in the issue has prompted a surge of proposals by Virginia Republican leaders. Hardly a week goes by without a candidate announcing an "action plan" on immigration: FitzSimmonds's brochure, for example, spells out a five-point plan.

Republican and Democratic candidates said they were surprised by the seemingly sudden and strong interest. Many said their internal polls did not show illegal immigration to be a significant voter concern at the start of the year. A Washington Post-Kaiser Foundation-Harvard University survey in May found that about a third of Virginians said they think illegal immigrants already living and working in the United States should be deported.

But interest picked up after Congress failed to approve an immigration overhaul this summer. That was followed by attempts by Prince William and Loudoun counties to crack down on government services to illegal immigrants and the closing of a day-laborer center in Herndon.

"It's a matter of concern across the state because of a failure of the federal government to do their job, to come up with some kind of comprehensive reform," said Del. Robert H. Brink (D-Arlington).

Virginia Republican leaders first seized the issue, unveiling a proposal to curb illegal immigration by prohibiting illegal immigrants from attending public colleges, requiring sheriffs to check immigration status before jail releases and suspending business licenses of companies convicted of hiring illegal immigrants.

Virginia Democrats, who are in a position to make gains in the GOP-controlled General Assembly, say Republicans have tried to divert attention from voter outrage over costly abusive-driver fees with an issue -- illegal immigration -- that state and local government can do little to resolve.

"To a large degree, they are grandstanding," said Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), the Democratic leader in the Senate. "It's to wash off the stink of abuser fees. When you see them dragging up issues like this . . . that's all they are trying to do."