Rights Officials From Mexico Cancel Visit

Team Was to Talk to Residents About Immigrant Crackdown

Mexico's human rights agency canceled plans yesterday to investigate whether new Prince William County policies violate the rights of illegal immigrants over fears that its visit might cause an uproar in a county already roiled by anti-immigrant sentiment.

"This humanitarian mission has been canceled because there was an intention to manipulate it that we will not be a party to," said Ricardo Juarez, a leader of the Virginia group Mexicans Without Borders, which had been coordinating the visit.

Although Mexico's National Commission on Human Rights has conducted several fact-finding missions in border areas and major immigrant gateway cities in the United States in the past year, the planned visit to Prince William would have been the first to examine the impact of efforts by smaller jurisdictions to combat illegal immigration through local laws.

But the commission dropped the plan after Juarez said he came to fear that the visit would be used to political advantage by Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), chairman of the Board of County Supervisors and a leading proponent of the crackdown on illegal immigration.

Juarez said the visit was being "used as a weapon by Corey Stewart against a community that is already suffering the consequences of his policies of hate."

Stewart, who is up for reelection next month, denied that he sought to undermine the visit but did express concerns.

"There is a sovereignty issue," he said. "You've got a foreign government trying to interfere with the working of a U.S. locality."

Prince William emerged as one of the most prominent examples of anti-immigrant activism earlier this month, when county supervisors voted unanimously to empower police to check the immigration status of anyone who breaks a law. The board also voted to cut off certain services to illegal immigrants such as bus tours for senior citizens, leadership training programs for adults, and rental and mortgage assistance. Illegal immigrants will also be prohibited from getting business licenses.

Mauricio Farah, head of the Mexican commission's migrant rights division, said in a phone interview from Mexico City: "These kinds of ordinances are criminalizing people who are not criminals, who have only come here to work. We respect the right of every sovereign nation to make its immigration laws, but a person's entitlement to basic human rights is not dependent on their immigration status. And these kinds of discriminatory, xenophobic and even racist laws are stripping people of their fundamental right to political, economic and social development."

Farah and other members of the team had planned to question immigrants from Mexico and other countries about their experiences at a meeting Monday night.

The commission is an independent public institution that is principally charged with serving as a government watchdog, so the team would have directed any recommendations to the Mexican consulates or government.

Although the visit to Prince William was abandoned, the group will visit next week with members of Congress and U.S. advocacy groups that are challenging local anti-immigration measures.