Posted to ABC News7 on:
6:23 pm Thu May 01, 2008 - MANASSAS, Va.
Prince William County (webnews) supervisors have made a key change to the county's illegal immigration policy, considered one of the most aggressive in the nation.
The board decided late Tuesday to direct police officers to question criminal suspects about their immigration status only after they have been arrested.
In October, the board directed police to check the residency status of anyone who is detained, no matter how minor the offense, if they believe the person might in the United States illegally.
Republican Supervisor Martin Nohe said Tuesday that the change in the illegal-immigration policy will limit the county's risk of a lawsuit.
Supervisors supported the change after cutting $3.1 million from the county's budget that would have funded video cameras in police cars to enforce the policy. Police had wanted the cameras to protect officers from allegations of racial profiling.
The change came before the board approved a fiscal 2009 budget of $893 million.
Prince William supervisors revisited the illegal immigration policy after Democratic Supervisor Frank Principi last week expressed concern about overly harsh enforcement.
Tuesday, he proposed a change that would have directed police to question a person's immigration status only after they have been arrested and taken to jail. He was the only supervisor to support it.
More than 100 people addressed the board for more than five hours Tuesday regarding both budget and immigration matters. Some asked the board to keep the illegal-immigration policy intact, while others urged supervisors to limit it.
"If [people] enter our country illegally, they should be deported, whether they are a criminal or not," said Walter Menz of Woodbridge.
Ruth Hellwig, a 45-year resident of Woodbridge, said, "it's dividing neighbor against neighbor ... even the children are discriminating against one another in the school system."
