Blogger, filmmaker join forces to protest immigration policies
The politically-charged subject of illegal immigration and all the debate that surrounds it has led to the formation of yet another local grassroots group.
The makers of the YouTube documentary “9500 Liberty“ are combining with local blogger Alanna Almeda to protest policies recently implemented by Prince William County and Manassas directed toward illegal immigrants.
The group has yet to come up with the name, but around 75 people came out for the group’s first meeting at the Mexican restaurant El Portal in Woodbridge last Friday.
According to Almeda, the group plans on meeting for dinner every other Friday to discuss the direction of the group and to support area Hispanic businesses.
“By joining of the forces, I think we will have a powerful medium,” said Almeda, a stay-at-home mother of four in Haymarket who runs the political blog http://www.antibvbl.net. “They have video and we can provide the discussion with the blog. We’ll put those two things together to put message out there.”
“9500 Liberty” was created last year to stir up the immigration debate as county policy makers were in the midst of forming legislation to deny certain services to illegal immigrants. The documentary’s name specifically refers to a partially demolished house in Manassas that has sported numerous political messages regarding race, the county’s resolution and the city’s imminent involvement in the Immigration & Customs Enforcement 287(g) program.
Almeda said she supports the Prince William-Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center’s involvement in the 287(g) program, which helps process and deport criminal illegal immigrants. However, she said the resolution passed by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors last October as well the county and city’s involvement in the 287(g) program were fiscally unnecessary scare tactics.
Enforcing the resolution in the jail and on the streets, buying cameras for police cars, employing the criminal alien unit and restricting social services to illegal immigrants will cost the county an estimated $6.4 million in fiscal 2009, according to Prince William County spokeswoman Liz Bahrns.
“How can we spend more money on this than transportation improvements?” asked Almeda. “... It definitely has scared people, the resolution has already had its intended affect, to rid the county of Hispanics.”
Almeda started her Web site as a response to the political blog run by Greg Letiecq, the president of the anti-illegal immigration group Help Save Manassas. Almeda claims that she was shut out of posting on Letiecq’s blog, bvbl.net, because he didn’t like what she was posting online.
Consequently, Almeda created a nearly identical Web site with the opposite name.
On a recent post, Almeda thanked her supporters for showing up at the meeting. Many of the attendees at the first meeting are bloggers on antibvbl.net.
Almeda hopes many of those voices present at that meeting will be raised as the county goes through its budget process this month.
“The immigration resolution is a ‘failed’ experiment in Prince William County,” wrote Almeda on her blog. “Socially and fiscally, our county is crumbling under its pressure. Let’s talk about specific ways we believe we can move forward.”
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Reader Reactions
Truth is an illegal immigrant can’t own property so therfore will pay no property tax on property and will rent. Rent gets taxed at 14% of what they would pay on property tax so the county will loose money if they have 1 child who needs a ESOL program that will cost 7.600 PER child per year to break even they will have to pay taxes on 816,000 in claimed income or rent , I do not see those numbers making it.Bottom line is crime is down in Prince William County for the last 3 months maybe the illegal crack down had something to do with it.
Racism has and continues to be practiced by all races, that does not make it right. A fine example is racism practiced by our two fine upstanding Democratic candidates for President. If all races were trully concerned about beating it they would practice what they preach instead of making it a one party issue. Chris Cummings
If they are fleeing bad economic circumstance in their home countries, why aren’t they fleeing economic circumstances here? I heard Md. is hiring<firing> of course their economy is worse and has been for sometime because of their tax policies towards businesses and their chasing away of jobs and look at good ole’ Isiah Leggett building a $70000 toilet for his own safety and taking it out on the states taxpayers??? LOL Chris Cummings
Hey Kgotthardt hows that? According to a Virginia Commonwealth Institute study only 50% of illegals pay income taxes. Everybody pays sales tax unless of course they are a thief. So your sales tax argument is moot. Then again even though they pay taxes, they are still here illegally. Please rectify this problem. Chris Cummings
Is it not racism(discrimination) when one favors an illegal vs. a legal immigrant Kgotthardt? I asked this on another thread and received no answer from pro illegals and their apologists. Don’t give me the old you are a racist crutch because if you personally were raised with my family and friends you would see this is the furthest thing from the truth. By the way i am white. Chris Cummings
“There are thousands of illegal kids attending school in PWC who have been sent here from “their country” who are draining the school system.“ Mom, you have no idea of what you are talking about, and neither does anyone who claims to know the “numbers.“ First, because the BOCS didn’t do any kind of cost assessment on any public service, there’s no way to prove or disprove what you are saying. Second, the schools wouldn’t know either. Third, we live in the D.C. Metro area. We have many, many diverse groups living here. I suppose you can tell who is “illegal” and who is not when even the COPS can’t (detained at least two LEGAL immigrants). Fourth, according to Wally Covington, people are having bigger families in general. YOU seem to have four children yourself. So please don’t try to cite numbers when you don’t have any.
dotherightthing…
What-eva.
good job wwwantibvbl.net, you must see the reality of our PWC now and every body must go outside and see, how many people is not paying their leases because the bad economy + our local resolution, think about these bussines and force Mr Steward to do something to push our economy, he is obsses with the illegals, I think he has a personal issud with them. all that I hear is just complaining of money, more taxes and more taxes
(KGotthardt)
You loose your argument when you make false allegations against any individual!!
It’s ridiculous that people are labeled as racist if they don’t want the county overrun by illegal immigrants. Pwanon had an excellent post and I would like to add this. There are thousands of illegal kids attending school in PWC who have been sent here from “their country” who are draining the school system. They EXPECT us to cater to them and have everything translated in Spanish. I dare you to go to any European or Asian country and ask for the same. You learn their language!
racist
1932 as a noun, 1938 as an adjective, from race (n.2); racism is first attested 1936 (from Fr. racisme, 1935), originally in the context of Nazi theories. But they replaced earlier words, racialism (1907) and racialist (1917), both often used at first in a British or South African context.
dictionary.com
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