Prince William County Passes Tough Immigration Law
As an eight year resident of Prince William county in Virginia I have witnessed the huge influx of Hispanic residents, estimated to have increased from 9.7% of the population in 2000 to 18% in 2005 - it has to be higher this year (WTOP News, July 2007).
This influx of Latino people, mainly from Central American countries, has created a sort of hysteria amongst Prince William’s largely conservative voting base. The ‘migrant workers’ gathered at 7-11 convenience stores (waiting for work), the boom of Hispanic shopping centers (food & ‘back-home’ goods), and not to mention the neighbors next door - since Hispanic homeownership has risen 2.2% from 2000 to 2005 in the United States.
The polemic here is that a large amount of Hispanic immigrants to Prince William are illegal - this is putting a large socio-economic strain on the county’s infrastructure. The new county law, passed yesterday, is aimed towards getting those illegal immigrants deported. The method: demand proof of lawful presence from any individual that can be detained on probable cause of violation of federal immigration laws. (Washington Times, July 2007)
Many civil rights organizations such as the ACLU take offense to the new ordinance, claiming that it can only lead to “the denial of essential, legally required services to undocumented immigrants” (ACLU, July 2007). There is no doubt that the majority of people detained for questioning will be of Hispanic origin - and there will be violations of basic civil rights - but is it for the greater good? That is indeed the County’s justification of the ordinance, and its officials stand by the unanimous decision.
The County’s legal (non-Hispanic) residents for the most part feel that these illegal immigrants are breaking the law, and letting them go on without reprimand represents a flaw in the justice system. Proponents of the ordinance insist that illegal immigrants come to this country only to usurp resources and take their tax-free earnings back to their home country.
Opponents demand recognition of the arduous and diligent work that is performed by illegal immigrants. There is also fear that legal residents of Hispanic origin will face increased discrimination and scrutiny from public officials as well as fellow residents. To avoid scrutiny of the law-abiding Hispanic community at large there are many other ways to go about controlling illegal immigration in Prince William county. One method is to only check the immigration status of arrested individuals.
Latinos are the fastest growing minority group in the United States, but not just in headcount, their economic power is increasing substantially every year. Hispanics are the minority group with the most spending power, estimated at $863.1 billion (Terry College of Business, September 2006).
This new law has a scary air to it. Perhaps we are coming to a point in time where porous borders were a thing of the past.
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7 Responses to “Prince William County Passes Tough Immigration Law”
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This tough law will be helpful to clean out the jails of unwanted criminals that WE have to pay for. I don’t agree with the harassing of the “workers” at the 7-11’s. These men are trying to support their families. When does this law start?
I am a first generation hispanic and I am happy this law is out. I have come to this country to make it a better place and to go by the laws that make it the beautiful place it is today, so all the Latinos that want to come to the US with all their country in a backpack and try to live like they did back “home” please get out of PW and Out of the USA
I totally disagree with this law, these are human beings trying to provide for their families and we’re just gonna push them away… when we have our own people using up all our money on welfare and not working!!!! Everyone keeps saying these people, what about our own? Everyone keeps talking about cleaning up our jails, well where do we send our own people sucking our tax money dry? we need a solution to this not a WAR!!!!!
No one is talking about a war here…we cannot provide proper services for our countrymen if illegal immigrants are using our resources without contributing to them. Take a look at social security, WIC, and other programs. These services are being provided to those who will continually suck it dry while Americans are being turned away. Holly talks about our neglect to Americans but your actions Holly only make it worse for Americans and Legal immigrants.
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article William County Passes Tough Immigration Law | Virginia | D.C. | machete, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
I hope this email finds you well. I am writing you concerning ACORN opening a new office in Northern Virginia. As you may know ACORN is the nation’s largest grassroots organization working to protect the rights of low-moderate, working class, immigrants, and people of color. We are currently working on national campaigns such as the expansion of SCHIP, affordable housing, better schools, and paid sick days. These are issues that directly affect the children of NOVA.
I am very interested in speaking with you about this immigration issue. We are concerned that people will be unduly targeted and harrassed by the general public and officials. Please contact me at your earliest convenience.
ACORN is also the 3rd largest partner with the IRS behind the military and the AARP to provide free tax preparation. We are launching a new component to this service which is a Benefit Screening Center. Clients will be able to come to our offices and be screened and submit applications for CHIP, LIHEAP, Food Stamps, child care, etc. There are billions of dollars left in Washington every year because people do not know that they qualify for such programs. We are very interested in working with you to see that the community has access to such benefits. Please contact me at your earliest convenience so that we can talk about working together in the near future. Thank you very much for your time!