Judge Dismisses Immigration Lawsuit Against Va. County

Date created: 11/30/2007 3:52:32 PM
Last updated: 11/30/2007 4:01:00 PM



ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- A federal judge Friday dismissed a lawsuit challenging Prince William County's recent high-profile effort to clamp down on illegal immigrants. Advertisement


At a brief hearing in U.S. District Court, Judge James Cacheris said the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to challenge measures passed earlier this year by the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.

Among other things, one resolution requires police to check the immigration status of people they detain if they have reason to suspect the person is an illegal immigrant. A second resolution went even further and seeks to deny numerous county services to illegal immigrants, including business licenses, drug counseling, housing assistance and some services for the elderly.

County attorneys successfully argued that the plaintiffs could not demonstrate that they had suffered any harm under the measures, which have not yet been fully implemented.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, a leading supporter of the crackdown, said he believes the county's efforts may be replicated across the country now that it has withstood a legal challenge.

"Some of the best litigators in the country came up with the best arguments they could come up with ... and at the end of the day it was tossed out by a judge," Stewart said.

The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund filed the lawsuit on behalf of a group of plaintiffs, including legal and illegal immigrants and the Woodbridge Workers Committee, an organization of day laborers in Prince William County. As a whole, they argued that they would suffer racial discrimination from police who would suspect them of being illegal immigrants because they are Hispanic.

They also argued that Hispanic families are already suffering real harm, including the fear that parents who are illegal and children who are U.S. citizens born in this country will be split up.

Plaintiffs' lawyer Christina Sarchio said she is considering an appeal but first wants to see the judge's written order. Another option would be to refile the lawsuit with different plaintiffs who have been detained by police in connection with the new policy, she said.

Prince William County, the second largest county in Virginia, has seen its Hispanic population more than double since 2000, to nearly 70,000, according to Census Bureau estimates. Proponents of the crackdown argue that illegal immigrants are contributing to a deteriorating quality of life. Critics contend the concerns are thinly veiled racism and say the county has no business meddling in immigration enforcement, which is typically the responsibility of federal government.

County officials appropriated $900,000 earlier this year to implement the police policies. They only committed $325,000 to fund the other measures because of a projected budget shortfall; full implementation is expected to cost $14.2 million over the next five years.

Stewart said he hopes to have the police program in place with trained officers by February. Currently, the only routine immigration checks are made at the county jail when a person is arrested. That policy was in place before the two resolutions were introduced, Stewart said.

Cacheris said he will issue a written ruling later detailing his decision.

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