Thread: Prince Wm: Illegal Immigrant advocates plan boycott, rally

Immigrant advocates plan boycott, rally
In Prince William, resolution denies services to illegals

Thursday, Aug 02, 2007 - 12:08 AM

By KEITH WALKER
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
MANASSAS -- Immigrant advocates say they will encourage Prince William County immigrants to boycott non-Hispanic-owned businesses in the county for a week beginning Aug. 27.

They also plan to hold a community rally and march Sept. 2 and organize a work stoppage Oct. 9. The actions are in response to Prince William's resolution aimed at withholding county services from illegal immigrants.

Mexicans Without Borders sponsored three meetings last week to get community input on how to react to the resolution that directed the county executive's office to identify which county services could legally be denied.

The meetings, which supporters said attracted more than 3,000 people, were held in Woodbridge, Triangle and Manassas.

Yolanda Lemus of Mexicans Without Borders said Tuesday that the work stoppage, march and boycott, which members of the community suggested at the meetings, will be aimed at persuading the Prince William Board of County Supervisors to rescind its resolution.

Petra Cox, also of Mexicans Without Borders, said the supervisors ignored the opposition of people who spoke at the July 10 meeting when the board unanimously passed the resolution.

At least half of the people who spoke at the meeting opposed the resolution, which directed the police department to establish standards of probable cause to determine whom to ask about their immigration status.

But Supervisor John T. Stirrup, who proposed the resolution, said he thought those people didn't represent Prince William voters.

"I think the folks that don't want the resolution are, of course, the folks that are here illegally, and then you've got some very vocal advocacy groups that I think in no way represent the majority of the citizens in the county," he said.

The resolution also directed the police department to enter into an agreement with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to train officers to enforce immigration law and establish procedures for transferring illegal immigrants into federal custody.

Opponents of the resolution fear that Hispanics, who make up about 18 percent of the county's population of about 381,220, will be targeted by police.

"This resolution harasses and intimidates the immigrant population and will inexorably lead to racial profiling and discrimination against a particular segment of the population," Cox said.

Stirrup said that sentiment is overplayed by the advocacy groups. "Regardless of who you are or what your background and your ethnicity is, if you're here legally, you have absolutely nothing to be concerned about."

Several other organizations are monitoring the Prince William board's actions.

The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund has threatened to sue the county if it enacts an ordinance to deny services to illegal immigrants.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has urged the supervisors to reconsider and is studying the proposal.

And the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund has urged the Prince William Human Rights Commission to issue an opinion rejecting the proposal.

Keith Walker is a staff writer for the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger.

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx. ... -0167.html

If this happens, I will drive the 30 miles to go shopping in PW. Enough of this. Our economy should not be depending on illegals. They are one of the reasons that the housing market is out of control, hospital costs are increasing, and taxes will have to increase to keep our governments out of bankrupty. The only reason that employers can get away with paying low wages is that we the taxpayers pick up much of the cost for these people. They are getting low income mortgages that should be for Americans.