Report: Illegal immigrants decline in Va., Md. areas that crack down

Washington Examiner
February 1, 2011
By David Sherfinski

The number of illegal immigrants plummeted in Virginia and Maryland communities that cracked down on immigration violations, with many moving into neighboring localities where enforcement of those laws was far less intense, according to a report released Monday.

Frederick County in Maryland saw a 61 percent drop in the number of Hispanic noncitizens between 2007 and 2009 after the county implemented a new program in which local police enforce federal immigration laws in 2008, according to the report from the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington.

Prince William County in Virginia saw a drop of 21 percent of Hispanic noncitizens after implementing the same program, while neighboring Loudoun County saw a drop of 13.5 percent, the report shows.

Many of the illegal immigrants who fled those counties ended up in neighboring communities that opted not to use the program to crack down on immigration infractions, the report found. Montgomery County in Maryland saw a nearly 19 percent increase in the number of Hispanic noncitizens -- which includes those who entered the U.S. illegally and those who entered legally but overstayed their visas -- between 2007 and 2009, while Fairfax County in Virginia saw an increase of nearly 10 percent.

CASA de Maryland, an immigrant advocacy group, derided the police crackdowns as "racial cleansing," though local police insist they've reduced the number of people living illegally in their communities without violating anyone's rights.

"We've had no problems with it," Frederick County Sheriff Charles Jenkins said. "All the myths of profiling -- they just don't exist."

Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, who is urging every city and county in Virginia to follow Prince William's lead, said the report confirms what county officials already knew -- tougher enforcement will reduce illegal immigrants' numbers.

"Illegal immigrants are not welcome in Prince William County," he said. "They clearly went to Fairfax and Montgomery -- we know that anecdotally."

In Montgomery County, Patrick Lacefield, a spokesman for County Executive Ike Leggett, disputed the report's findings.

"We haven't seen any increase" in illegal immigrants, Lacefield said. "It has often been said by folks who are in Northern Virginia and the Frederick County sheriff that illegal immigrants are flocking to Montgomery County. That's not true."

Virginia Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax, says the notion that Prince William County is tough on immigration is more perception than reality and that state law already requires local police to check the immigration status of anyone taken into custody.

"The word on the street is that Prince William is tougher on illegal aliens than Fairfax," he said. "It seems logical to conclude that people moved out of Prince William and into Fairfax."

Fairfax County Sheriff Stan Barry disputed any notion that the county is lax when it comes to enforcement but said he still doesn't believe local police should be enforcing federal immigration laws.

"I don't think anybody really advocates for illegal immigration," he said.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/vir ... z1CmInGIrf