PWC: Board Is Set To Reconsider Immigration Crackdown

[Populist]

Board Is Set To Reconsider Immigration Crackdown
Residents Encouraged To Attend Tues. Meeting

By Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 27, 2008; PW01

County supervisors are prepared to tweak, and possibly repeal, Prince William's controversial crackdown on illegal immigration. The board is expected to revisit the policy Tuesday before voting on the upcoming year's budget.

Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large) sent an e-mail to about 2,500 supporters last week urging them to attend Tuesday's 2 p.m. meeting and voice their support to "continue the crackdown."

"I know it may be inconvenient, but please try to attend and ask others to attend as well," his message read.

Stewart said supervisors have received "thousands" of e-mails, running about 10 to 1 in favor of funding the resolution authorizing police officers to check the residency status of criminal suspects.

Just before the October vote on the resolution, Stewart used taxpayer money to mail postcards encouraging residents to attend that meeting. More than 1,200 people showed up at the marathon session, and nearly 400 addressed the board.

This time, Stewart also encouraged supporters to e-mail Supervisor Frank J. Principi (D-Woodbridge), who said he will offer a resolution to rescind police enforcement. Principi was the only supervisor not on the board when it approved tougher immigration enforcement measures, which also deny some county services to illegal immigrants.

Principi will seek to repeal a key part of the county's policy that directs police officers to check the residency status of criminal suspects who they think might be in the country unlawfully. Officers may question anyone suspected of committing a crime, no matter how minor the offense.

Several supervisors have suggested that they are willing to have officers question only the worst criminal offenders.

The policy, which took effect March 3, has increased crowding at the county jail and prompted a request from the police for video cameras in patrol cars to protect officers from accusations of racial profiling.

Principi's concern about overly harsh enforcement was prompted by a unanimous board vote last week to remove the $3.1 million for cameras from $6.9 million budgeted to cover costs of the crackdown next year. Supervisors cut an additional $1.2 million in related police, foster care and child protective services for the children of deported illegal immigrants.

Some supervisors said they want to wait until County Attorney Ross G. Horton offers recommendations on how to carry out the policy without cameras in patrol cars.

"We need to review the policies necessary to make sure we don't get caught in a Catch-22," Supervisor John D. Jenkins (D-Neabsco) said. "We may need to change the current policy. But I don't want to rescind the resolution."

Stewart said that he's open to suggestions but that "if the policy's working, we should leave well enough alone."

Supervisors cut the proposed fiscal 2009 budget of $913 million by $6.7 million. That brings the property tax rate to about 97 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, amounting to a 5 percent increase in tax bill of the average homeowner.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 04046.html

[zeezil]

There are 8 Prince William County Supervisors. Below is the link to contact them. ALIPAC'ers, please help out here...we can't lose this one. PWC has been the model of local action against illegal immigration.

Please e-mail and/or call NOW!!! Maintaing the "Rule of Law Resolution" is vitally important. Don't let the OBL and Mexicans Without Borders win:

Contact for PWC Supervisors:
http://www.co.prince-william.va.us/defa ... 0030000442

[zeezil]

John Jenkins Considers Endangering Public Safety
By Greg L | 25 April 2008 | Prince William County | 19 Comments

An article in the DC Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/a-1359402~Illeg ... pardy.html quotes Neabsco Supervisor John Jenkins as being open to changing the Rule of Law Resolution to focus on “‘the worst of the worst’ instead of traffic violators,â€

[zeezil]

Springtime In Frank Principi’s Woodbridge District
By Greg L | 25 April 2008 | Prince William County | 115 Comments

Ah, it’s springtime in Frank Principi’s district in Woodbridge, the flowers are in bloom, the smell of freshly cut grass fills the air, and the sounds of chickens echo in the street. Let’s take a look…

Huh? Chickens? You bet. Here’s some spotted today.



Yes, chicken farming in Woodbridge’s residential areas is a popular way to help deal with the lack of available jobs in the construction industry and a slowdown in day labor work.



With a nice flock of yummy chickens, your dinner is never more than a few feet away.



No need to do to the store, just kill ‘em, clean ‘em, pluck ‘em, and put them in your handy backyard kitchen. Just make sure you don’t burn down the chicken coop when doing so.



It’s a lot easier than driving to the store and paying two bucks a pound or more for chickens, especially when gas is so expensive and your tags are dead, which makes driving potentially hazardous with that pesky Rule of Law Resolution in force.



This is the cultural phenomenon that Frank Principi seems to be interested in protecting with his desire to gut the Rule of Law Resolution. Driving with dead tags like this is a non-arrestable offense, and Frank’s brilliant idea here is to protect someone from having their immigration status questioned if a police officer happens to notice a vehicle like this driving around with temporary tags that expired more than five months ago. Yeah, Frank, let’s just give illegal aliens who break even more of our laws a pass here.

And as far as the residential chicken farming goes, I understand that Neighborhood Services had been contacted about this and did absolutely nothing. Keep up the good work, Frank. I’m sure your constituents are really pleased with you.

Frank J. Principi
Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Building
15941 Donald Curtis Drive, Suite 140
Woodbridge, VA 22191
Phone: 703-792-4646
Fax: 703-792-4993
Aide: 703-792-4647
fprincipi@pwcgov.org

http://www.bvbl.net/index.php/2008/04/2 ... #more-2303

[zeezil]

Contact the Prince William County Supervisors and tell them to keep the "Rule of Law Resolution" in force:
http://www.co.prince-william.va.us/defa ... 0030000442

[zeezil]

Principi Runs And Hides
By Greg L | 27 April 2008 | Prince William County | 6 Comments

Since Woodbridge Supervisor Frank Principi announced to the Washington Post that he intended to rescind a portion of the Rule of Law Resolution last week, he has refused to respond to any further media requests. I’ve also heard from a number of his constituents who are upset that he won’t respond to their requests for information about his intentions either. One characterized his actions as similar to dropping a hand grenade in a room and running away, leaving others to suffer the blast effects. This might seem to be an appropriate description of how some of his fellow Supervisors on the Prince William County Board might feel now that they’re bearing the brunt of a huge outpouring of opposition to Supervisor Principi’s stated intentions.

Leadership, this is not.

Normally when an elected official launches a legislative initiative, you get more information about it than “Principi, D-Woodbridge, did not return several telephone calls for comment. â€

[azwreath]

Thanks for posting the info Zee. I agree that we need to jump into the fray here.....it's insanity to allow ONE public official to undo what has been done for the greater good.


What's baffling me is that this guy won't even back up his own efforts by answering his constituents or speaking with the media. To me, that's a sign of weakness and signs of weakness can be used to one's advantage.

[Populist]

Thanks for posting the stories Zeezil. Please call/fax/e-mail if you can!

[Rawhide]

Zeezil, thank you so much for posting this.I will call and fax tomorrow.



Rawhide!

[zeezil]

Taking a Stand on Illegal Immigration in Virginia
Posted by Rick HonchoApril 27, 2008

It was a dramatic change in his Prince William County neighborhood that got Greg Letiecq thinking about immigration almost three years ago.

After going to government officials with concerns about crowded homes and congested streets, Letiecq said, officials’ lack of response made him realize it was time to take the matter into his own hands.

“A number of houses in my neighborhood became overcrowded. . . . When we tried to contact the government, nothing was happening,â€