As Hundreds Testify, Pr. William's Vote on Immigrant Plan Goes Late

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.

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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.