Illegal alien law could be nation's toughest

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Illegal alien law could be nation's toughest 
County set to pass plan denying services, requiring police to check status

A Virginia county is considering possibly the nation's toughest local measures to stop illegal immigration, including a requirement that police check residency status of anyone detained for breaking the law, no matter how small the infraction.

Prince William County, the state's second largest, also wants schools and agencies, including medical clinics and swimming pools, to verify the legal status of people who want to use their services, the Washington Post reports.

The paper said a resolution to be voted on the county Board of Supervisors Tuesday could prompt legal challenges as courts have upheld the right of illegal immigrants to a public education.

As WND reported, dozens of towns have followed the path of Hazelton, Pa., which passed an ordinance one year ago to deter housing owners from renting to illegals. But analysts say the Prince William resolution appears to be unique, because it packages so many measures into one.

Already a number of towns have followed Hazelton's lead, including Farmers Branch, Texas; Valley Park, Mo.; and Riverside, N.J., which passed a measure fining landlords $1,000 per day for renting to illegals and removing business licenses from employers who hire illegals.

Opponents have filed lawsuits insisting the new laws usurp federal authority. The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which challenged Hazelton in court, said four communities had passed similar measures and another 17 were considering them.

On the state level, legislatures have considered more than 550 pieces of immigration-related legislation. In Georgia, a massive immigration reform package passed one year ago sanctioned employers who hire illegals and anyone who offers them access to public services. Colorado's legislature later passed similar measures.

As WND reported, the Prince William County town of Manassas has a grassroots group trying to raise awareness of the detriments of illegal immigration and lobby for enforcement and tougher laws.

The county's board says the problems illegal immigrants have caused include crime, overcrowded housing and a spike in school costs, the Post reported.

"Citizens will no longer accept that our hands are tied and that responsibility lies with the federal government," said Supervisor John T. Stirrup Jr., a Republican, who proposed the resolution last month. "They want action."

Stirrup's resolution says county agencies might be fueling the problem "by failing to verify immigration status as a condition of providing public services."

Most of the eight supervisors, who say constituents are flooding county offices with messages of support, have indicated they plan to vote for the resolution Tuesday.

The resolution does not stipulate how residency status would be verified, but supervisors told the Post a valid driver's license or state-issued identification would be sufficient. Anyone determined to be in the country illegally would be handed off to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Stirrup says the aim of the registration is to make sure illegals are not given social services, including education.

"If they're here illegally, we have no responsibility to educate them," he told the Post.

Any emergency medical care would be given to illegals, he said, but they must be immediately reported to federal immigration authorities.

Kris Kobach, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a former immigration adviser to former U.S. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, noted the resolution has an exceptional provision that would give legal residents "writ of mandamus" powers. The provision would allow residents to sue Prince William County, he told the Post, if they suspect any of its agencies are not denying services to illegals and reporting violators.

Muzaffar Chishti, director of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute's office at the New York University law school, charged the proposal is the closest thing he's seen to "encouraging vigilante action."

"Clearly, this is inciting people," he told the Post.

He finds the police officers' ability to check residence status of everyone they stop the most "extreme" aspect of the proposal, insisting it is unconstitutional.