Prince William County officials will head to court today to begin defending their illegal-immigration crackdown, in the first of what is expected to be a long lineof legal challenges to the policy.
The county will try to have a civil rights lawsuit thrown out in Alexandria during a preliminary hearing that could set the table for a high-profile trial next year.
Federal District Court Judge James C. Cacheris will hear arguments on whether a group of 22 Hispanic residents has legitimate grounds to challenge policies allowing local police to check someone’s legal status at a routine traffic stop.
“There’s just absolutely nothing about the resolution that is illegal,” County Chairman Corey Stewart said, adding the group has “absolutely no standing” to bring the lawsuit.
But lawyers for the plaintiffs said the law violates the 14th Amendment provision requiring equal protection of the laws for everyone.
“These people have already been affected and will continue to be affected by the passing of the resolution,” said Eduardo Ferrer, an attorney for Howrey law firm, which is leading the case with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. “If you wait until it’s actually implemented, it’s too late.”
Immigrant groups and their advocates had promised a legal challenge since the county proposed the measures in late June.
But although county leaders said they painstakingly wrote, revised and reined in the proposals with the inevitable lawsuit in mind, they said more cases are surely on the horizon.
“Whatever happens with this lawsuit, we know that we will have more legal challenges to come,” Vice Chairman Martin Nohe said.
For example, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia is planning to wait until the implementation of the law begins before deciding whether to mount its own case, executive director Kent Willis said Thursday.
