Impromptu county immigration fund tops $700

Spontaneous donations from area residents who support Prince William's immigration initiative totaled $740 by March 4, according to fund records received from the county.

"I was reading about the probability of lawsuits, so I wanted to show [supervisors] that here's one citizen who wants to show support," said Ken Parsons, who operates a landscape materials business in Manassas and donated $500 to the county on Nov. 30. "I made the check payable to the Rule of Law Defense Fund."

No such county coffer actually exists by that name; Parsons was just trying to keep the money from depositing into the general fund. Moreover, the county is not -- and never was, said Liz Bahrns, communications director -- actively soliciting any donations to implement or enforce its immigration measure. But on Nov. 3, a check for $40 was received from Holly Schupp Gorham and Dave Gorham from Bristow, with instructions to apply toward enforcement and maintenance of the county's then-newly created immigration policy, and officials had to put the money somewhere.

By law, Bahrn said, the county had to create a special fund -- and since, three other donors have contributed. On the spreadsheet she provided, the title of the fund is listed as "donations for legal or enforcement expenditures to fight illegal immigration."

In addition to Parsons and the Gorhams, separate $100 donations for this use came in February and March, respectively, from Joseph and Hien Farrell of Alexandria and from Randal and Patricia Jacobs of Vienna.

"I heard in the press reports they were going to have to raise taxes to support the immigration policy and I thought, 'OK, I'll do my part,' and even though I don't live in Prince William County, I wanted to help stop illegal immigration there. It impacts the entire United States, so it isn't just a question of the county," said Joseph Farrell, who added that he's donated to the government once before, during the 1980s when federal deficits were soaring.

"I sent in money under Reagan," Farrell continued. "I sent it to the Treasurer of the United States back when I wanted them to cut the budget. No, I don't remember the amount … it was just a token, I'm sure."

As for accusations of racism for those who support the county's policy, both Parsons and Farrell pointed to the argument of law -- that it's not the ethnicity of the immigrants they disdain, but rather the presence of those who are in the county and country absent from lawful status.

"Anybody who calls me a racist, you haven't seen my wife, who is a brown-skinned legal immigrant," Farrell added. "I'm all for legal immigration."

Meanwhile, the county's enforcement of its 287(g) program in the adult detention center has resulted in the release of some numbers. Between July 10, 2007 -- when the ADC first implemented its system notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the detention of an inmate in the country illegally -- and March 4, the jail reported 313 transferred to the federal authorities.

"We feel the program is a success," said ADC Superintendent, Col. Pete Meletis. "Our goal is if someone commits a local criminal offense and they're illegal, that we'll keep them from going back on the street … and ICE will pick them up."

According to the breakdown provided by the ADC, the bulk of ICE transfers, 110, cited El Salvador as their country of origin. Following, 82 claimed their home roots in Mexico; 51, Honduras; 30, Guatemala; and four each for Nicaragua and Sierra Leone. The rest came from a range of other countries: Albania, Bolivia, Korea, Laos, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Zaire, to name a few.

Supervisor Michael May, R-Occoquan, declined to interpret the ADC numbers or draw any conclusions, but found it interesting that quite a few came from nations other than those with Hispanic populations.

Chairman Corey Stewart, R-at large, meanwhile, in a previous interview, pointed to the dwindling levels of English for Speakers of Other Language students as evidence of a successful immigration initiative.

County schools report that about 630 ESOL pupils have left the system since September. This represents about 4.7 percent of the 13,409 ESOL students enrolled at the beginning of the year.

"Clearly our immigration resolution has helped out the schools considerably," Stewart said. "For the first time in history, the student population is decreasing, for a cost savings of [millions]."

According to statistics from the public school system, the county's public school population is not decreasing despite the loss of ESOL students. In September 2006 enrollment was 70,723. At the end of September 2007 enrollment was 72,654.

County school officials say it's too soon to know what is causing the decline. But officials in Manassas, where ESOL enrollment had decreased by approximately 5.6 percent or 123 students this year, attribute the loss to economic factors.

In Manassas Park enrollement dropped from 712 students at the beginning of the year to 625 as of the end of February. Officials there are attributing the loss in enrollment to subprime mortgages that resulted in many people losing their house, the downturn in housing construction and Prince William County's anti-illegal immigrant resolution. The two cities have not adopted illegal immigrant resolutions.

Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907 or cchemley@potomacnews.com.