Stafford delays vote on English-only issue

Stafford supervisors delay vote on English-only measure

By JONAS BEALS
Date published: 9/17/2008

Stafford County supervisors tabled a proposal yesterday to make English the only language used in the county's public schools.

Supervisors Mark Dudenhefer and Cord Sterling expressed concern over the broad language used in the resolution, and the supervisors agreed to postpone a vote on the resolution until their next meeting.

Sterling and Dudenhefer questioned language that could have made it difficult to teach foreign languages, as well as properly instruct legal immigrants who may need help learning English.

Dudenhefer noted that "the language is open-ended" and proposed altering the language to reflect the realities of the classroom.

"I just have an issue when it comes to children," Sterling added. "It could create more problems than it solves."

The English-only resolution was one of three proposed in response to the findings of the Illegal Immigration Task Force, which was created in September 2007. Their findings were brought to the board May 6.

The other two resolutions petition the state and federal governments to give localities more autonomy in dealing with immigration issues, and were passed by the board.

"There are a limited number of things the board can do because of legal restraints on the state and federal levels," said board Chairman George Schwartz, who was part of an immigration subcommittee with Dudenhefer.

Supervisors are seeking the ability to sanction businesses that employ illegal immigrants, the ability to deny certain services to illegal immigrants, reimbursement for the cost of public services provided, and the ability to request documentation on the legal status of anyone receiving public services from the county.

The task force endorsed continued support of the informal agreement between the Rappahannock Regional Jail Authority and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Legal status of arrestees brought to the jail is checked via an ICE database.

Recommendations were made to the board after the 17-member task force met regularly over seven months in 2007 and 2008, including two public hearings in January.

Jonas Beals: 540/368-5036
Email: jbeals@freelancestar.com
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008 ... 008/411262