With three weeks remaining before the first review of how Loudoun County could deny services to illegal immigrants, top administrators are preparing detailed reports outlining the effort and its obstacles.
Senior officials are deciding whether it is possible to regulate who receives help from agencies as varied as family services and parks and recreation. Each agency is set to brief County Executive Kirby Bowers on what it would take to restrict access to illegal residents.
“The first report should be at the September 4th meeting,” Loudoun County spokesman Jim Barnes said. “That will sort of be some indicator whether any services can be denied.”
With several Virginia counties now studying how to implement proposals that can reduce the expense of serving illegal immigrants, the wealthy, fast-growing suburban county is the first slated to report its findings next month.
“All the departments are trying to look at all their services and see what they can do,” Barnes said.
That can be a tall order for a county that is home to 44 different departments, officials said. The meeting will beat a similar session in Prince William County by more than a month.
Among the study topics are how many services and programs each department offers, whether illegal immigrants could receive those benefits and whether there are already measures in place restricting access. The county will also review which programs can’t legally be restricted, like aid to people older than 65.
