Report: Prince William policy on illegal immigrants working

By: David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer
11/16/10 4:15 PM EST

Prince William County’s high-profile crackdown on illegal immigration was smoothly implemented by the county police department and staff and had few of the unintended consequences critics had feared even though it fell short of some of its original goals, according to a final report on the county’s policy presented Tuesday.


The number of illegal immigrants in the county dropped by between 2,000 and 6,000 between 2006 and 2008, though it was unclear if that was caused by the police crackdown or the souring economy, the report said.

A major goal of the policy was to improve public safety and reduce crime. Most types of crime, however, were not affected by the policy, the report said, though aggravated assaults declined after its announcement in 2007. The study cautioned that the decline could represent changes in crime reporting.

One concern had been fears that the policy would prompt a flood of costly litigation and allegations of racial profiling, but such problems did not materialize and no lawsuits directly claiming racial profiling have been filed against the county, the report said.


The original policy, passed in October 2007, directed police to check the legal status of anyone they arrested if they had probable cause to believe they were in the country illegally.


In April 2008, the board voted to require police to check the status of everyone arrested.

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