By Nick Miroff and Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
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.
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