Posted: Monday, December 14, 2015 7:15 pm
By ANDREW CAIN Richmond Times-Dispatch

Donald Trump on Monday announced Corey Stewart, head of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, as his Virginia campaign chairman, praising Stewart’s “courageous stance against harboring illegal immigrants” in the Northern Virginia suburb.

Stewart, who sought the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2013, recently won election to a third term as chairman of the board in the county of more than 446,000 residents, second in the state in county population to neighboring Fairfax.

Stewart, an international trade attorney, says on his website that he “has received national recognition for implementing the nation’s toughest crackdown on illegal immigration, resulting in the county turning over more than 7,500 criminal illegal immigrants to the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.”

Stewart made national headlines when he helped implement a county ordinance that requires county law enforcement officers to verify the immigration background of everyone they arrest.

The policy, which took effect in March 2008, initially required police officers to check the immigration status of anyone they had “probable cause” to believe was in the country illegally. The county board altered it weeks later because of concerns that it would open the county to racial-profiling allegations. Under the change, Prince William requires immigration checks of everyone they arrest on charges of violating state or local laws.

“Mr. Trump’s message of returning America to greatness, reviving prosperity, and once again becoming a symbol of hope and freedom to a dangerous world is being felt in Virginia, and all around our country,” Stewart said in a statement released by Trump’s campaign. “Mr. Trump is the only candidate who can get it done and I am proud to join the campaign.”

Trump received broad criticism in the Republican Party following his Dec. 7 proposal for a complete ban on Muslims entering the U.S. “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

http://www.richmond.com/news/virgini...54768d701.html