Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart Reports on July 10th Meeting with the House Republican Policy Committee

 

 

Three members of the House Republican Policy Committee met with Corey Stewart on July 10^th at the Library of Congress Jefferson Building to discuss what the Federal Government can do about illegal immigration.  The government was particularly interested in how localities can help them to crack down on illegal immigrants.  They were curious about what Prince William County had done, its’ success and the problems that led to the initiative in the first place.

Corey Stewart gathered that the federal government was interested in the Prince William County policy and the possibility of expanding this program nationwide because the number of custom officials nationwide is fewer than 10,000.  This number includes patrols at airports, borders and ports of entry.  Currently there are ten to twenty million illegal immigrants nationwide.  State and local governments have over 700,000 Officers nationwide who can assist with immigrant status checks.  The federal government realizes that they need to leverage state and local law enforcement resources to deal with illegal immigration.

The 287(G) Program refers to section 287(g) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1996.

Congress granted powers to localities and states to enforce federal immigration laws.  The Prince William Program began on July 10, 2007 within the county jail system.  Since that time 857 people have been handed over to the federal government for deportation.  Prior to the 287(G) program illegal immigrants were released into the community after finishing their sentence.

In many instances there were repeat offenders which included high profile murder cases.  This is no longer happening with the implementation of the program.  The Prince William County Police have reported a 19% decrease in the crime rate with the enforcement of the 287(G) Program.  Meanwhile localities in Fairfax and Loudon are experiencing increases in crime.

 

The House Republican Policy Committee members were also interested in the English as a Second Language Program.  Corey Stewart reported that there was a decrease of approximately 1,200 students but he did not know if this was directly related to the illegal immigration initiative in Prince William County.  Corey Stewart has spoken to many teachers and administrators who have verbalized that they are happy that Prince William County has done something about illegal immigration, because the rapid and massive influx of ESL students had put a tremendous strain on the school system.

 

The last report Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart gave was the affect of non paying patients at area hospitals.  These are patients without private health insurance and/or are not covered by Medicare and Medicaid.  Corey Stewart reported the number of non-paying patients is decreasing.

 

When asked about current metropolitan newspaper accounts of fear among local Hispanic populations who fear visiting relatives in Prince William County, Corey Stewart emphasized that anyone who is legally here in the United States has nothing to fear from the current policy and he said that they have doubled their efforts to prevent racial profiling.  Mr. Stewart said that the only time anyone will be checked is in the incidence of a lawful stop.  The Prince William County Police are prohibited from profiling.  For minor violations such as speeding, it is up to the officer whether or not to check a persons’ immigration status whereas in the case of an arrest the police are mandated to check their status.  When anyone is the victim of a crime or a cooperative witness they are not checked for immigration status because they want people to report crimes.  Mr. Stewart also said that people from Europe and Asia, who have over stayed their visas, have been deported as a result of the initiative in Prince William County.

 

When asked by BristowEnews.com about the reduction of gang activity within the county, Mr. Stewart replied that they were still waiting for a report on these numbers.  Corey Stewart said that eighty percent of the members of the more violent and cruel gangs are illegal immigrants.

 

In economic terms Corey Stewart believes we will not know if the foreclosure situation within the county is directly related to the initiative. He did state that the faster growing counties around the nation such as Las Vegas, counties in Florida as well as Prince William and Loudoun were on a boom and bust cycle.  Too many homes were built and therefore values exploded and we are feeling the result of the busting.  He said the Prince William numbers were not far from other fast growing localities across the nation.

 

Corey Stewart said that according to the Wall Street Journal, Prince William County is one of the fastest to recover from this cycle.  There has been an increase of sixty-one percent in sales since last year.  He said there is a lot of slack in the market that needs to be taken up before prices come up.  Meanwhile Prince William County is recovering quickly.

 

Corey also noted to BristowEnews.com that he met an individual who moved to the Bristow area from Chantilly specifically because of the Prince William County initiative to tackle the problem of illegal immigration.  This new resident now lives in the Bristow Village community near Route 28.  The man moved from Chantilly because Fairfax County has not done anything about the illegal immigrant issue.  Many local news agencies have not reported this reverse effect of moving into the county because of their checks on status.  Prince William County has attracted many immigrants to the county as a result of their policy.

Date Published: 2008-07-16 05:27:10

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