Va. Coalition To Focus On Illegal Immigration

County and city leaders from several Virginia jurisdictions have formed a group to push for tougher measures against illegal immigrants, the latest sign that local governments in the state will look for ways to act while immigration reform remains stalled in Congress.

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The Coalition on Illegal Aliens will consider the impact of illegal immigrants on residential overcrowding, crime, public services and other quality-of-life concerns while developing proposals for state and local laws. The coalition will also look at measures designed to punish employees who hire illegal immigrants and landlords who house them.

Leaders from across the state hope to capitalize on the momentum created by policies targeting illegal immigrants in Prince William and Loudoun counties and elsewhere, though it's unclear whether the policies will prove to be a deterrent.

The coalition is the third multi-jurisdictional body in the state created this year to address the issue. The others are the Virginia Commission on Immigration and the Alien Criminal Enforcement Task Force.

But leaders of the new coalition -- some from areas where illegal immigrants are admittedly scarce -- said their effort will be different. "Those groups were put together by the governor and the General Assembly," said Herndon Mayor Stephen J. DeBenedittis, who was picked to be the coalition's chairman at a meeting last week in Culpeper. "This is a group of local governments who are joining together to try to make our voices stronger."

Coalition members said DeBenedittis was chosen because of his experience in the successful fight to shut down Herndon's day-laborer center. The coalition's other leader, Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors Chairman Dick Neese (R), will help steer the group as its vice chairman, though his jurisdiction has few illegal immigrants.

"Really, I don't know that there's an issue here right now, but this is one way to flush it out," he said.

Neese said his constituents have kept a wary eye on events in Prince William, where supervisors voted in October to enact some of the toughest policies against illegal immigrants in the state. "We're really concerned [illegal immigration] will be moving further west," he said. "If Prince William cracks down, it may move to Shenandoah County."

Martin Bernal, a community leader in Culpeper, said it has seemed lately as though the whole Latino community has been under attack. "Things have really picked up since Prince William came out with that plan," he said. "They are blaming us for everything that's going wrong in this country and with the economy. We'll see what the coalition proposes, and we'll stand up for ourselves."

About two dozen localities have expressed interest in joining the coalition, but only about half that many have sent representatives to its first two meetings, according to Culpeper Mayor Pranas A. Rimeikis. Although it has elected officers, the group lacks a committed membership list, he said.

"The coalition is in its infancy, and I think it's still trying to figure out what its purpose is," said Rimeikis, who also sits on the 20-member Virginia Commission on Immigration, formed this year by the General Assembly and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D).

Rimeikis questioned the value of input from localities with few illegal immigrants. "If you don't have experience with the issue, I don't know how you can endorse some of these proposals," he said. The group would best be served, he said, by comparing experiences.