11th District Dems talk immigration
By Dan Roem
Two of the four Democrats seeking their party's nomination in the 11th Congressional District spoke in full opposition to the illegal immigration crackdown in Prince William County during a debate in Woodbridge Tuesday night.The Board of County Supervisors there recently adopted a law requiring residency checks for certain services to ensure that illegal immigrants don't receive county benefits. In addition, police are checking the immigration status of everyone they arrest.
Only physical therapist Lori Alexander openly supported the crackdown. Former Navy pilot Doug Denneny unequivocally opposed every aspect of the Prince William plan and Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly lambasted it as “demagoguery.” However, former U.S. Rep. Leslie Byrne said it would be a “fool’s game” for Democrats to take on the Prince William board now.
Connolly, who has repeatedly clashed with Prince William board Chairman Corey Stewart on this topic, disputed Byrne's position.
“It’s not a fool’s errand, as Leslie suggests, to take on demagoguery. It is not OK to demonize fellow human beings because of their status. ... I [had] the courage to stand up and say, that’s wrong, and we’re not going to do that in our community,” he said.
Byrne, who carried the 11th District during her run for lieutenant governor in 2006, said the immigration debate in Prince William is over and that it's time to look for solutions to the larger immigration problem.
The real issue, she said, is that there is not enough enforcement of the federal law prohibiting companies from hiring illegal immigrants.
“The blame lies in not enforcing the code that is already written and that is where we should be looking to enforce it,” she said.
Connolly agrees that the federal government is not doing its part to enforce immigration laws, leaving local governments to deal with the consequences.
“And that’s not right because we have enough on our plate at the local level,” he said.
Denneny said he fears the law will lead to racial profiling and mistrust of the police in immigrant communities, hurting officers ability to protect those residents.
“I think that it is abhorrent in 2008 that people would be codifying into law some level of racial profiling and not only that, but not even give police officers the tools they need to completely enforce that law,” said Denneny, who is trying to become the second Iraq war veteran to serve in Congress.
Alexander took a personal approach, saying that while working at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, she noticed many people lacked health insurance. The hospital has to treat those people without any assurance that it will be paid.
Many of those people are illegal immigrants and it's a big problem in Fairfax County, she said. “That’s why people make fun of Fairfax County. They say we’re a refuge.”
She later noted that in March, the effort led to the arrest of an accused child molester.
“If that law got a molester off our streets, than it’s worth it,” Alexander said.
Whoever wins the June 10 Democratic primary will face Republican Keith Fimian in the November general election.