Poll Finds Va. Focused On Illegal Immigrants

Although state and local governments can do little to resolve immigration concerns, in part because federal and state laws provide many protections for illegal immigrants, six in 10 likely Virginia voters said they would be more inclined to support an office seeker who advocated aggressive state and local action against illegal immigrants.

"I think we need to strengthen our borders," said Lori Robinson, 45, of Norfolk, who plans to vote for Republicans next month, partly because she thinks they would be stronger on immigration. "I'm looking for someone to stand up and say, 'This is what this country needs.' You want to help everyone, but you can't."

"Clearly there's a lot of frustration with the broken immigration system," said Tim Freilich, legal director for the Virginia Justice Center for Farm and Immigrant Workers. "What we're seeing are state and local elected officials trying to do something. What we need now is comprehensive immigration reform. We don't need mean-spirited, shortsighted results."

In recent months, Prince William and Loudoun counties have voted to curtail government services to illegal immigrants, and Herndon voted to close a controversial day-laborer center frequented by many illegal immigrants. Last week, the Prince William board also unanimously passed a proposal that will allow police to check the immigration status of anyone who breaks the law. Fairfax officials are trying to determine which county services can be denied to illegal immigrants, although they haven't decided to do that.

Republicans dispute the notion that they are exploiting the immigration issue to gain political advantage, saying they are responding to complaints from voters. "If you're hyping a nonissue, you wouldn't get these results," Stewart said.

Gerald E. Connolly (D), who is running for reelection as chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said many politicians are making false claims about what they can do.

"Some politicians have declared open season on a particular group of immigrants who are here that goes way beyond unpalatable. It puts people at risk. I can tell you I've spoken to a lot of immigrant communities. This has made them very anxious. We have a sad history in Virginia that we don't want to repeat," Connolly said.

Nearly seven in 10 Virginians polled said the federal government has not done enough to deal with the issue. But many also see illegal immigration as a state and local issue -- and not one that the federal government alone should address.

About one in eight Virginians call immigration the most or second-most important problem in the state. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said illegal immigration is a problem where they live, including 20 percent who said it is a "very serious problem."

Steve Fowler, 57, a consultant who lives in Manassas, describes immigration and transportation as his top issues after abortion. "To me, the issue is . . . whether they broke the law to come here," he said.

But Bill Maxwell, 70, a retiree who has lived in Alexandria for four decades, said immigration is not a top priority. "I think Republicans are making a big deal out of it," said Maxwell, who has voted for both parties in the past but plans to vote Democratic in November.

On most questions about immigration, there are wide differences by party and region.