http://www.starexponent.com/servlet/Sat ... 9190578084

Culpeper Council seeking more advice
Allison Brophy Champion
Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 12, 2006


Several immigration-related items made the agenda of tonight’s regular meeting of Culpeper Town Council, including a recommendation from the interaction committee that the town send a letter to Congress asking for guidance on “how to handle illegal immigrants at the local level.”

Town Councilman Steve Jenkins, a member of the interaction committee, prompted that action at the Aug. 23 meeting, setting off a round of pro-immigration and anti-illegal immigration events in Culpeper in recent weeks.

A month later, Town Council as a whole will finally get to weigh in on his controversial ideas.

Within days of the interaction committee meeting, Jenkins organized a town hall meeting at the library to solicit input from residents about his proposals to crack down on undocumented immigrants at the local level.

Next, the local Hispanic community fired back with an organized march/rally on the same day to protest the councilman’s initiatives, which many felt were aimed at the burgeoning local Spanish-speaking population.

Both events occurred Sept. 2, and though emotions ran high, both were peaceful.

And just last week, before Town Council had an opportunity to meet and discuss Jenkins’ ideas - including the recommendation to send a letter to Congress - U.S. Congressman Eric Cantor, R-Richmond, responded with a letter of his own.

“I want to assure you that I stand ready to help you in any way that I can,” he wrote in the Sept. 6 letter.

In the letter, Cantor said he opposes amnesty and government benefits for illegal immigrants. He supported a wall at the Mexican border as well as giving authority to state and local police to detain illegal immigrants for deportation.

“Unfortunately, the majority of members in the U.S. Senate do not agree with me. So, we are temporarily at a stalemate in Washington,” he said. “Frankly, I do not expect the senate to come to its senses until after this year’s election.”

On the day before Cantor issued his letter, the county Board of Supervisors voted in favor of sending a joint letter, with the town, to the congressional delegation on the issue, requesting to know what can be done locally - if anything.

It is unclear, at this point, whether Cantor’s preemptive letter adequately addresses the committee’s request.

“I understand from news accounts that some in Culpeper want to take local action on these issues, especially as they pertain to local zoning and land usage,” Cantor concluded his letter.

This statement referred to Jenkins’ earlier proposals, made during his first weeks in office, to redefine “family,” as it relates to extended family members living together in a single-family house.

Town Council will also take up this discussion at tonight’s meeting, in both closed and open session.

Town Attorney Bob Bendall, who also advises the Manassas government, knows the issue well. The Manassas City Council voted earlier this year to change its definition of “family,” which in some cases would have made it illegal for the head of household’s aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews to reside in the home.

However, the action was quickly repealed and overturned, following objections from the American Civil Liberties Union and other fair housing groups. Some members of the public felt the ordinance unfairly targeted Hispanic families, and the ACLU viewed it as unconstitutional. Litigation on the matter is ongoing in Manassas.

Finally, under the agenda item “communication and correspondence,” council will accept and acknowledge a letter from the Immigration Coalition of Culpeper, dated Sept. 1.
In the letter, the coalition asks council to “reject any such anti-immigrant measures.”

“As members of the immigrant community, we appeal to your sense of integrity, human decency, and civil responsibility by requesting that we in Culpeper set an example for the nation of respectful public dialogue between the concerned segments of our community,” their letter says.

“Immigrants in our town are more like the citizens of this country than not since they strive to fulfill the same dreams, meet the same goals and care for their children just as much as anyone in the community.”

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or abrophy@starexponent.com.

Want to go?

The Culpeper Town Council meets tonight at 7 p.m. in the county administration building, 302 N. Main St.