Thread: Prince William: Reality check on illegals crackdown

Reality check on illegals crackdown
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 14, 2007
Last updated: 5:38 PM


Frustrated at the federal government's inaction and ineptitude on immigration, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors decided to take matters into its own hands by planning its own crackdown.

The county doesn't have the authority to deport the illegal immigrants crowding the Washington suburb. But the supervisors calculated that if the county made life miserable enough for them, they would leave.

Thus, it asked the county staff to describe in minute detail what it would take to deny illegal immigrants everyday public services by requiring county employees to conduct aggressive ID checks.

The 218-page report has just been released and ought to be required reading for anyone promoting or contemplating this increasingly popular idea. (http://www.pwcgov.org/documents/bocs/ag ... 02/6-A.pdf)

The report's inescapable, but unstated conclusion is this: making life in Prince William miserable for illegal immigrants will make ordinary citizens feel unwelcome, too. Everybody's ID will have to be checked, whatever their skin color, because everyone will be suspected of being an outsider. Every time a citizen turns to county government for help, information or services, they will be asked for documents showing who they are and who they are not.

The Prince William report contemplates roving spot checks for IDs at playgrounds, swimming pools, skateboard parks and at the county-run farmers markets.

Federal laws prohibit senior centers from refusing meals to low-income illegal immigrants, but banning them from bridge games and other activities is OK, the staff found.

The report plods on, weighing the pros and cons of denying a litany of services. Screenings for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. Disaster shelters. Gypsy moth control. Mental health counseling. Spay and neuter clinics for pets. Even funeral escorts.

The new regime would create moral and legal dilemmas that regular government employees have no business dealing with.

For example, should a librarian refuse help to a U.S.-born child needing research ideas for a science report if his parents are illegal immigrants? The most dispiriting sentence in the report is a game attempt by county staffers to put a cheery spin on the drop in youth sports participation:

"There may be less use of the fields so the turf would be in better condition."

And what would Prince William gain from this experiment?

The staff estimated five to seven illegal immigrants who ride the county-owned van to senior centers would be left at the curb. Three or four elderly people would no longer receive personal care and bathing assistance. Another 10 to 12 would be disqualified from other services for the aging.

Hundreds or even thousands of illegal immigrants might be barred from county parks - but only after they're all fenced so admission can be controlled.

That approach carries a heavy, yet undefined price tag. For the police alone, the cost will be an extra $2 million a year and supervisors acknowledge that real estate taxes will have to go up to chase the illegals out.

Fences erected around parks and extra workers to check IDs at the landfill all cost money. But the higher cost will be assessed on citizens' privacy and their quality of life.

If local and state officials get carried away in their embrace of anti-immigrant policies, as suggested in the Prince William report, the sense of community that binds people together could be forever changed.

© 2007 HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com


http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.c ... ran=162693

The report's inescapable, but unstated conclusion is this: making life in Prince William miserable for illegal immigrants will make ordinary citizens feel unwelcome, too

No one said it would be easy. So OBL doesn't mind illegals as long as the illegal aliens don't live in their neighborhood.

Hundreds or even thousands of illegal immigrants might be barred from county parks - but only after they're all fenced so admission can be controlled.

And as if this is a bad thing? Try going to the parks around here in SoCal

The staff estimated five to seven illegal immigrants who ride the county-owned van to senior centers would be left at the curb. Three or four elderly people would no longer receive personal care and bathing assistance. Another 10 to 12 would be disqualified from other services for the aging

So what maybe it's time to pay a good enough for America citizens to want work there. Why is it again why we don't want Americas doing those jobs?

That approach carries a heavy, yet undefined price tag. For the police alone, the cost will be an extra $2 million a year and supervisors acknowledge that real estate taxes will have to go up to chase the illegals out.

I bet real estate taxes will go down not up..

A bunch of leftist, bleeding heart, IA hugger crap. This dipwad expounds the mindset of "just ignore the fact that our very communities and quality of life is at stake". The reason that we are in this huge dilema is exactly because of numbnuts like him.

For a totally different perspective than the one Mr. Numbnuts expouses, see the below link of a blogger in Prince William County who actually lives there and deals with the IA problem each and every day:
http://www.bvbl.net/