"We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge" - Barack Obama (aka President Malaise)
Pitch in with the Prince William Young Republicans and help defeat Obama in 2012!
Supervisors Struggle With Wording
By Greg L | 3 July 2007 | Illegal Aliens, Prince William County | 6 Comments
The press coverage regarding Supervisor John Stirrup’s proposed resolution concerning the county’s policies towards illegal aliens has gotten some press recently in the major newspapers, much of which is based on the immediate comments by some supervisors after the resolution was introduced. Those that watched coverage of the board’s last meeting on the county cable channel remember that Supervisors Barg and Jenkins expressed some concerns over the legality of the resolution after hearing it introduced, although they hadn’t any opportunity at the time to review it. My concern is that the press coverage which makes a big deal of these initial concerns may be having the effect of locking these supervisors into being opposed to it by trying to characterize these comments as considered conclusions rather than the initial impressions that they really are.
The portion of the resolution that seems to have drawn this reaction is the portion that deals with public benefits that might be provided to illegal aliens. Paragraph C of that resolution is as follows:
Pursuant to United States Code Title 8, sections 1373 and 1644, no official, personnel or agent of the County, including officers and personnel of the Police Department, may be prohibited or in any way restricted from sending, receiving or maintaining, information regarding the immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual, or exchanging such information with any federal, state or local government entity for the following official purposes:
1. Determination of eligibility for any federal, state or local benefit, service or license which is restricted, in whole or in part, to persons who are not United States Citizens or non-qualified aliens, Pursuant to Virginia Code Ann. 32-1-325.03; Virginia Code Ann. 63.2-53.1; and United States Code Title 8, Section 1621;
2. Verification of any claim of legal domicile within the county by a person who asserts that he or she is not a citizen, national or legal resident alien of the United States; where legal domicile is required by law or contract;
When you hear this read the first time, it’s not impossible that one might get the impression that this would do things like require the fire department to verify one’s legal status in order to respond to an emergency, but it’s clearly not the case if you look at the wording. The wording here is very specific that this applies only to those benefits or services that are already restricted by law. This resolution doesn’t add new restrictions, remove any benefits from anyone currently receiving them if they are already eligible to obtain them, or actually change anything other than requiring that county agencies actually ask the question about legal status when the service or benefit is already prohibited to illegal aliens. As it stands now, if a benefit is restricted to citizens or legal residents, county agencies can subvert that restriction by simply not asking applicants whether they’re illegal aliens or not. This resolution would end that practice.
But a lot of the news coverage on this is trying to find the “other side of the issue”, and so far all they have to go with are the initial, and understandably inaccurate comments made before supervisors had a chance to even read this resolution. It would have been more beneficial to the public to follow up with those supervisors who expressed concerns to see how their position may have evolved now that they’ve had a chance to study this a bit. Instead, they’re boxing these supervisors in with their initial reactions, which might be considered by some to be an attempt to solidify opposition to the resolution.
This resolution is on the agenda for a vote at the July 10th meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Between now and then, voters should be contacting their supervisors in support of this resolution, and be ready to come to speak at Citizen’s Time during that meeting. Getting the board to change it’s policy regarding illegal aliens isn’t going to happen unless citizens demand it, especially when the press isn’t making much effort to understand what this resolution does and does not do.
You can download the resolution here.
The opinions expressed here are solely the views of the author, and not representative of the position of any organization, political party, doughnut shop, knitting guild, or waste recycling facility, but may be correctly attributed to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. If anything in the above article has offended you, please click here to receive an immediate apology.
You can follow the discussion through the Comments feed.
6 Comments
Views: 937
Loading ...
That was one of my favorite parts (of the resolution)!
WE NEED MR. STIRRUP’S RESOLUTION NOW!!!!
Here’s more proof, why we need this proposal, it’s 9minutes long, I found it to be a rather alarming reality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7WJeqxuO
Link does not work
Scott thanks for letting me know, about the link, I hope it works this time, if not let me know. I’m fairly new at posting links.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7WJeqxuOfQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7WJeqxuOfQ
Here are immigration attorneys telling employers how to disqualify Americans in favor of foreign workers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU