Candidate Ignites Race For Sheriff In Loudoun

Ahlemann Targets Illegal Immigration

A pastor's son and former motorcycle cop who wants to be the next sheriff of Loudoun County wears a large, colorful tattoo on his left forearm: an affirmation, he says, of his moral, political and religious convictions.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

One side of Gregory J. Ahlemann's tattoo shows a Colonial flag. "It's there to show our nation was founded on Christian values but that as a nation, we are moving away from this," he said, citing divorce, abortion and premarital sex as prime culprits.

And in some ways, Loudoun is losing its way, too, Ahlemann was quick to add, by not aggressively targeting illegal immigrants, a population that he said is improperly using public services and committing a "rising number" of crimes.

Ahlemann said he has no idea how many illegal immigrants live in Loudoun, nor does he know many are committing crimes. Those statistics do not exist, he said. "It's so hard to say who is here illegally and who is actually a criminal," he said.

In the run-up to the Nov. 6 election, the tall, outspoken former Loudoun deputy who once wrote 200 traffic tickets in a single month has turned what is usually a low-key sheriff's race into a lively referendum on whether he is right when he says illegal immigrants are making the county a more dangerous place to live.

"Greg Ahlemann is wrong," said three-term incumbent Stephen O. Simpson, who lost the Republican nomination to Ahlemann in the spring and is running as an independent. "Ahlemann is throwing this stuff out there as though it's gospel. There's no evidence what he's saying is true. But I think he could sell ice to an Eskimo."

The Democratic candidate, Michael E. George, a former narcotics and organized crime detective who helped create Fairfax County's gang intelligence unit in the mid-1990s, said Ahlemann is trying to ride the anti-illegal-immigrant bandwagon.

"Ahlemann has one platform, and he thinks this is the hot ticket to winning an election," said George, chief investigator for the Recording Industry Association of America, a Washington-based trade group.

It's a volatile issue in the region. Last month, the Herndon Town Council voted to shut down a controversial publicly funded hiring center for day laborers. And in recent months, county officials in Loudoun and Prince William have been debating how far they should go in cracking down on illegal immigrants who use county services or commit crimes.

"I mean, I'm not for illegal immigration," said George, a Loudoun resident for 27 years. "But I've found that most people who are here illegally come to work. They know they are illegal, so they try to stay under the radar."

George said Loudoun's top law enforcement priority should be preparing for a terrorist attack, especially because the county is home to Dulles International Airport.

Simpson points to gang activity, terrorism and increasing traffic on Loudoun roads as the top issues, noting that only one in 20 gang members arrested in the county in the past year was an illegal immigrant.