Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (8)
Loudoun and Prince William's immigrant populations shrinking
Two Northern Virginia counties that took highly publicized stances against illegal immigration saw their number of foreign-born residents decline last year, while one of their neighbors saw its immigrant population go up.In 2007, the immigrant population dropped about 1 percent in Loudoun County and 6 percent in Prince William County, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2007, which was released Sept. 23.
However, in Fairfax County, where leaders have been less willing to place restrictions on illegal immigration, the foreign-born population went up 7 percent last year. In addition, Fairfax saw its number of residents who are not U.S. citizens – which includes legal immigrants -- increase 8 percent, while Prince William's noncitizen population dropped 4 percent and Loudoun's remained relatively unchanged.
"This perfectly corresponds to what these counties are doing," said Prince William's Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart (R-at large). "The illegal aliens simply move from the jurisdictions that are cracking down on illegal immigration to those that have declared themselves as sanctuary counties, such as Fairfax."
Grabbing most the headlines has been Prince William and the aggressive stance its leaders have taken against illegal immigration. However, some Loudoun leaders were just as vocal in 2007 about making the county less hospitable to people in the country illegally.
Both counties have officers who have received federal training in identifying illegal immigrants and starting the deportation process. Both also have passed measures that punish businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants. Prince William also denies public services to illegal immigrants, something that was proposed in Loudoun but failed.
Aside from stepping up their enforcement of illegal boarding houses, leaders in Fairfax have been less inclined to propose such extreme measures.
"I can just tell you Fairfax County is not going to go the route of some of our neighbors," Fairfax's Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly (D-at large) told the Washington Post last year on illegal immigration. "We're not going to demagogue."
Connolly did not respond to a request by the Times-Mirror for comment.
Tim Freilich is legal director with the Legal Aid Justice Center, which advocates for Virginia's immigrant community. He said the shaky economy and the housing mess are other possible reasons for the cross-county migration. However, the main factor, he said, is certainly the actions of Fairfax's neighbors.
"The anti-immigration measures have definitely had an impact on the desirability of Prince William and Loudoun as places for immigrants to raise their families," he said, before adding, "I think Fairfax is more inclusive, and I think Prince William is not welcoming."
In Loudoun, Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York (I-at large) recently expressed a willingness to re-examine how the county addresses illegal immigration. He said he may turn to Loudoun's neighbor to the south for guidance.
"I promise you sir," responding to a speaker at a Sept. 23 community meeting on crime and quality of life issues in Sterling Park, "I will look at what Prince William is doing."
Contact the reporter at jjacks@timespapers.com
Who is doing the "jobs American's won't do" in Loudoun and Prince William counties? Are both counties on the verge of collapse without the illegal immigrants in these jobs? Quick, bus them in from Fairfax before Loudoun and Prince William go under.
Posted by dpunty
Report Offensive Content
Migrating to America legally is, and should be, a long, drawn-out procedure meant to protect the interests of American citizens. It involves more than simply jumping a fence and heading north in pursuit of free health care, education, food stamps, and other handouts paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
Legal immigration means enduring rigorous hurdles like background checks to detect a criminal background or possible ties to terrorists; medical examinations to detect diseases still prevalent in third-world nations, but long since eradicated here; proof of financial solvency so as to prevent newcomers from becoming a burden on U.S. taxpayers, and testing for knowledge of American history and English skills.
Those who have jumped a fence into America in order to avoid our immigration checks are not immigrants. Rather, they are invading criminals, with no claim whatsoever to the welcome mat extended to legal immigrants.
Such people do not deserve recognition or sanction by the United States, and should be rounded up and deported as soon as possible, without exception.
In truth, illegal aliens have invaded our nation, leaving America vulnerable to undetected crime, terrorism, disease, and financial devastation at the hands of people with no legal or moral justification for being here.
Posted by rajens00
Report Offensive Content
Thanks to the illegal immigrants, three out of the seven townhomes on my block went into foreclosure and drove my property value down. My daughter's elementary school is spending all their funding on translating all materials into Spanish, adding services for these illegals, and cutting programs that would benefit my child (such as art and music). Crime is up and our quality of life is suffering. We need to spend our tax dollars improving the lives of those who are contributing them, not those here against the law. My vote in November will go to the candidate I believe will do the most to stop the flow of illegal immigration and deny any public services to those here against the law.
Posted by fedupinLoudoun
Report Offensive Content
To fedupinLoudoun - neither party is willing to do anything about the illegal immigration problem. evidence: for 6 years repubs had total control of congress and white house. nothing fixed was it? scratch this issue off your list of decision points for this election...ain't gonna happen from either party.
Posted by BabyBoomer
Report Offensive Content
dpunty: your observation is correct. those jobs continue to be filled. I am noticing that more of these jobs are being filled by youthful, english speaking (high school?) employees. I guess now that the economy is tanked mom and dad need them to start paying for some of those expensive toys and all of a sudden there is a willing workforce!
Posted by BabyBoomer
Report Offensive Content
rajens00: you are clearly very misinformed about immigration to the US. Yes, it is a long and bureaucratic process, but it is virtually impossible to accomplish if you are from the majority of countries in this world. Immigrants come here out of desperation and love for their families, not on a mere whim to cheat the system. Undocumented workers pay $15B more into our system each year than they ever see in return - it is an absolute myth that they receive benefits. Don't be fooled by Lou Dobbs and other fear mongers. Please be smarter than that.
And fedupinloudoun: You are also very mistaken. Immigrants have nothing to do with foreclosures - the number one reason for them across the country is medical debt. And immigrants no matter their status commit far fewer crimes (5x fewer) than US-born citizens.
Stop blaming immigrants for the problems that the corporate elite in this country have created and have been brewing for years. What we need is to stop having 51% of our taxes going to defense (we spend 15x more than China, the country in second place for defense, and we have 1/4 their population), then we would have plenty of money for health care and quality school programs for everyone.
When you bitch and moan about immigration you are completely wasting your time and falling into a trap that those in power want you to fall into. Also, you sound racist and that's just embarrassing.
Posted by wombystar
Report Offensive Content
Well said, rajens00. That encapsulates my position perfectly. I am not a racist and I fully support legal immigration in the numbers our country has deemed reasonable and affordable. Where I draw the line in these tough economic times is in trying to support millions of people who came in without permission. I am sorry for them if conditions in their home countries are awful, but that does not mean that I'm willing to allow my tax dollars to fund education, health care, food pantries, or social services for criminals.
Posted by fedupinLoudoun
Report Offensive Content
wombystar:
The US is under no obligation to accept immigrants. We are supposed to be a sovereign country that can determine who can immigrate and who cannot.
Your factual assertions are also incorrect. Immigrants from Central America do bring crime. Go look at Table 42 on the National Crime Victimization Survey and you will see that Hispanics have more than 3 times the average white crime rate. I'm giving you facts while you are simply making an unbacked assertion.
Illegal immigrants from Central American are an economic burden. Do the math. How can two people making minimum wage possibly make up the cost of educating 5 children + medical benefits for everyone. Go to an emergency room and see the long line of Hispanics in front of you waiting for free medical care.
As for foreclosures you are wrong again. While foreclosures are not broken down by race, you can see what's happening by looking at those places with high foreclosure rates. Example. Stockton CA has the highest foreclosure rate of any city in the US and has a very high Hispanic and illegal population. Go and download "Reaching the immigrant market," a handbook put out by Fannie Mae and you will see how underwriting standards for mortgages were lowered to accommodate illegal aliens.
Finally, playing the race card doesn't help your credibility.
Posted by cevogl
Report Offensive Content
You must be logged in to post a comment.