The Republican challenging Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald Connolly in this fall’s election has stepped into his opponent’s cross-county immigration feud, arguing Connolly has abdicated enforcement of illegal immigration laws and risks turning Fairfax into a sanctuary.
Gary Baise this week came down on the side of Prince William County Board Chairman Corey Stewart, also a Republican, who recently touched off a spat with Connolly by calling him a hindrance in the regional crackdown on illegal aliens.
“Gerry Connolly needs to get off of his behind and join the rest of us tackling illegal immigration in Northern Virginia,” Stewart said.
But Connolly, in turn, argued the movement against illegal immigration is just political hot air and questioned whether part of Prince William’s plan amounted to racial profiling. He said Fairfax focuses on illegal behavior — citing the county’s strike team on overcrowding — and not immigration status, which is a duty of the federal government to enforce.
Baise, a longtime GOP insider and former EPA official, called that stance “ducking the issue.”
“That is not leadership — that’s running for cover,” he said. “You’re not doing what the people elected you to do.”
Unless Connolly cooperates with Prince William, Baise said, Fairfax risks bearing an influx of illegal aliens from the outlying counties that are initiating crackdowns.
“It’s obviously to us that Gary Baise, just like every other Republican running in Fairfax County this year, is trying to distract voters with the issue of immigration,” said James Walkinshaw, Connolly’s campaign manager. “And distract them from the fact that Republicans have proven that they don’t know how to govern and that Northern Virginia voters no longer identify with their values and their positions on the issues.”
