The chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors is starting a push for a massive statewide crackdown in Virginia similar to Arizona’s new immigration law.
Corey Stewart’s “Virginia Rule of Law Act” would allow police to make arrests without a warrant if they have “reasonable suspicion” a person is in the country illegally, allow them to break up day laborer centers and prohibit solicitation on all public roads.
Stewart said he will choose a sponsor for the measure in the House of Delegates and the state Senate in the near future. He wants to pursue the issue now because the 2011 General Assembly session is the last before statewide House and Senate elections next fall, he said.
“I am very hopeful about it,” he said. “I think if it’s ever going to pass, this is the time.”
Gov. Bob McDonnell and administration officials will review the proposal, spokesman Tucker Martin wrote in an e-mail.
“The governor is a strong proponent of reforming our current immigration system to ensure that the laws of this nation are obeyed and upheld, and lawful immigration is encouraged and facilitated,” Martin wrote.
Fairfax County participates in the federal Secure Communities program, which runs fingerprints of everyone arrested through FBI criminal records and biometric immigration records maintained by the Department of Homeland Security.
“Things in Fairfax seem fairly settled,” said Sheriff Stan Barry. “We are addressing the problem.”
Some of Stewart’s proposed measures go much further than Prince William’s 2007 crackdown. The original resolution — which asked if it was possible to keep illegal immigrants off county streets and away from the county Web site — was scaled back; police officers now check the immigration status of anyone who is arrested.
Stewart said he has spoken to Arizona lawmakers who cited Prince William as an inspiration for passing its law, and that the “iron is hot” because of Arizona’s actions.
Not everyone is on board, however. Haymarket resident Elena Schlossberg, an outspoken critic of the law during the 2007 debate, said she felt “ill” when she saw Stewart’s most recent proposal.
“We fought so hard and really suffered through so much in this county,” she said.
Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger, a critic of Arizona’s law, would not comment about the Virginia Rule of Law Act.
“I am not commenting on what they’re doing over there,” he said.
Examiner Staff Writer Brian Hughes contributed to this report.
