The Prince William County Human Rights Commission launched a review Thursday into whether the county’s new illegal immigration resolution violates the rights of minority residents.
“We’re not going to rush into judgment. We’re going to study it very well,” commission Vice Chairman Carlos Labiosa said. “We need to see what is going on and make honest and fair recommendations and hopefully they will listen to what we say.”
The commission can publicly condemn the measure, but has no power to revoke or alter it.
A number of civil rights groups asked the commission to denounce the resolution at its meeting, saying the measure unfairly targets Hispanics.
The Prince William County Board unanimously passed a plan Tuesday asking police to check for legal residency if there is probable cause when someone is under arrest for another crime. The resolution also directed county staff to determine how to deny county services to illegal immigrants.
Critics, including the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, have threatened legal action unless it is revoked or redrafted.
County Chairman Corey Stewart and Supervisor John Stirrup said because it only addresses legal residency status, not race, the measure is fair and long overdue.
“We’re not going to change the resolution,” Stewart said, “but what we are going to do is fully implement it by putting the procedures and policies in place and making sure that we prevent any racial profiling.”
But all of the estimated 15 speakers before the commission meeting opposed the plan, said Phyllis Aggrey, the commission’s executive director.
The panel was formed in 1992 as a response to increasing diversity in the fast-growing suburban jurisdiction that now numbers more than 370,000 people. Its primary function is to mediate disputes and advise the county board on civil rights issues, Aggrey said.
