Leesburg Gauges Illegal-Immigrant Policies
Officials Discuss Tougher Measures

By Sandhya Somashekhar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 16, 2007; LZ01

Inspired by Loudoun County and other local governments that are considering tougher measures against illegal immigrants, Leesburg town leaders took a look at their policies this week to determine whether they should pursue a similar path.

Leesburg Town Council members Ken Reid (R) and Fernando "Marty" Martinez (D) initiated the discussion at the council's work session Monday night. At issue was whether the Leesburg Police Department should collaborate more closely with federal immigration authorities and whether the town could penalize businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

Reid said that although illegal immigration is not a major problem in the town, it could grow into what he considers a public nuisance.

"I'm one of those people who want to nip things in the bud before they get out of control," Reid said before the meeting. "I don't think people in this community want to see dozens of men hanging out at gas stations looking for work under the table."

During the meeting, however, Mayor Kristen C. Umstattd said she was skeptical that any additional effort by the town would be fruitful on an issue that is a federal matter. "It's a guaranteed way to raise taxes," she said, referring to the cost of additional screening by town officials.

Town Manager John Wells told the council that the town's guidelines for doing business with private companies already require that the companies comply with federal law. In some situations, the guidelines specifically require the companies to verify that their employees are authorized to work in this country.

Leesburg Police Chief Joseph R. Price told the council that he would support having a few of his investigators receive federal immigration training under the Section 287(g) program. The program allows local law enforcement agencies to gain access to some federal databases, which can hasten deportations of illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

Martinez, who is running for the Virginia House of Delegates, said Tuesday that he thought the town was doing everything in its power to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants, which he said is one of his top priorities. Anything more than that, he said, could create another "layer of government" to do background checks, which would lead to higher taxes.

"My reluctance to involve local government into it is, is it within our scope of what the locality is required to do? Who's going to pay for all of this?" Martinez said.

Reid, however, said there may be steps the town can take that do not require more government spending. For example, he said, the town could tighten restrictions on residential crowding, a problem that he said sometimes goes hand in hand with illegal immigration.

He said he will wait until Sept. 4, when Loudoun officials are scheduled to receive a report about the effect of illegal immigration on the county budget, before proposing further action.

Neither Reid nor Martinez suggested that the town move toward withholding public services from illegal immigrants, which Loudoun County and some other local governments have voted to do. The town does not provide services to undocumented residents directly, but it gives funding to a variety of nonprofit groups that do not check the immigration status of the people they help.

The amount of money given to the nonprofit groups represents a "pittance" of the town's budget, Reid said.

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