Stafford OKs study of effects of immigration

Supervisors approve charter for immigration task force days after jokes about fence

Wednesday, Sep 05, 2007 - 12:09 AM Updated: 12:26 AM

• Jokes fall flat at meeting on illegals
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STAFFORD -- Stafford County leaders yesterday endorsed a new task force's approach to studying illegal immigration in the Northern Virginia locality.

The Stafford Board of Supervisors' approval of the group's charter came a few days after three top-ranking officials made joking remarks about a 10-foot-tall fence and a concentration camp during a subcommittee meeting to formulate the task force's mission.

Board Vice Chairman L. Mark Dudenhefer reiterated that the task force wants to look at the local impact of illegal immigration in a "methodical, logical and humane" manner.

Supervisor Pete Fields was the only board member to vote against the task force's formation and its charter. He also opposed the board's declaration of English as the county's official language.

Fields said he believes the actions are aimed primarily at Hispanics, create fear among legal immigrants and undocumented ones, and promote disdain toward them -- "despite others' protestations to the contrary," he added during a break in the meeting.

Christine Wedding, a southern Stafford resident, told supervisors she is concerned about illegal immigrants.

"Everywhere you go, everything you go to do, there's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of illegal immigrants. Now I don't care about them going to Wal-Mart, shopping, stuff like that. But I do care when it comes to time to divvy up the state money," she said. "We need to help our own family, our own children, our own people."

The task force's charter states that the group will look at the costs and benefits of illegal immigration. Among its tasks, the group will determine the caseload and financial impact on county government. The group is to seek input from the immigrant community and others.

Several other counties, including Culpeper, Chesterfield, Loudoun, Prince William and Spotsylvania, also have recently taken steps to study the issue or attempt to rein in taxpayer spending on services to illegal immigrants.

Dudenhefer has specifically cited as "knee-jerk" the actions of Prince William County, where supervisors last month directed police to find ways to check the immigration status of people when an officer has probable cause. Prince William supervisors also told county agencies to find ways to deny public services to undocumented residents.

Dudenhefer's jest about a concentration camp Friday followed Stafford County Administrator Steve Crosby's remark to three assembled reporters that there was nothing inflammatory for them to report. Crosby then mentioned a 10-foot-tall fence, which prompted Stafford Sheriff Charles E. Jett to remark on possibly expanding the landfill.

Dudenhefer yesterday commented briefly on the episode, which was reported by The Times-Dispatch.

"I learned a really valuable lesson at that meeting -- that there's always someone out there in the audience who would like to personally hurt you and there really isn't a lot of care about what you're trying to accomplish," Dudenhefer said during yesterday's meeting.

"I have 30 years in the Marine Corps; I'll have to adjust and realize that there are that type of people in the world. And that's really all I have to say."

Stafford supervisors set an April 1 deadline for the task force to issue a report.

Contact Kiran Krishnamurthy at (540) 371-4792 or kkrishnamurthy@timesdispatch.com

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