An aggressive program to check driver’s licenses in the wake of a series of unsolved hit-and-run-in accidents in Loudoun County was interpreted by many in the local immigrant community as an effort to catch and deport illegals, advocates said.
But the checks, which have been used in the past, are designed to be a deterrent to all unlicensed and uninsured drivers, and are not aimed at immigrants, Sheriff Steven Simpson told The Examiner.
“It’s something we came up with during our strategy session,” Simpson said. The plan followed hit-and-run-in accidents in Sterling, Ashburn and other locales.
When drivers not at fault in car crashes would routinely speed from the scene, Simpson said the county realized it had a real problem on its hands.
The unexpected enforcement, however, triggered rumors among immigrants concerned the police were trying to weed out those in the county illegally, said Laura Valle, director of La Voz of Loudoun, a Hispanic outreach organization.
“Obviously it was a response to unlicensed drivers, but that turns into a rumor that creates kind of a stir,” Valle said.
Loudoun officials said they are not deporting people based on the ID checks though suspects who cannot prove their identity are more apt to be questioned about their legal status in the future, Simpson said.
“Anyone who can’t prove who they are, if they are in our custody, is looked at,” Simpson said, noting that a driver’s license won’t stop an inquiry into legal status.
Although new efforts to distinguish legal and illegal residents are not set to take place until at least September in each county, Hispanic outreach activists said they have noted many immigrants are now carrying green cards and residency permits as proof of residency in both counties.
“You’re going to lose that,” Carlos Labiosa said he told a man carrying his green card late one night in the neighborhood.
Labiosa, the vice chairman of the Prince William County Human Rights Commission, is studying the new resolution.
Parameters for verifying legal status will be discussed when Prince William County Police Chief Charlie Deane addresses the County Board of Supervisors Sept. 18.
