County chairman talks immigration on radio talk show

Prince William Chairman Corey A. Stewart, R-at large, said the county’s illegal immigration resolution is here to stay even in these hard economic times.

“We think it’s working and we’re going to keep it,” Stewart said in an interview Wednesday on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU, a National Public Radio affiliate.

Nnamdi asked Stewart if his focus hadn’t wavered recently in light of record foreclosures in Prince William County resulting from the failing economy.

Stewart told Nnamdi that he thought people in the community were satisfied with things as they stand, and the board wouldn’t abandon the resolution that first came under discussion in July 2007. The resolution was finally implemented in July 2008 and required police to ask anyone they stopped about their immigration status.

“Those in the community seem to be content with it, even those who opposed the policy initially,” Stewart said.

Still other things demand the board’s attention, Stewart said.

“We’re trying to move on to other problems and other concerns, namely the economy,” Stewart said. “People are worried about their jobs and their homes and everything else.

“We’ve got a lot of financial problems in the county just like a lot of other counties. We’ve had to cut about 20 percent of our budget,” Stewart said.

Nnamdi noted that the county’s proposed budget cut services and delays road construction.

Stewart said the board of supervisors had a “responsibility” to keep the resolution in place.

“What we did on illegal immigration is a public safety measure. It has reduced crime in the community and has virtually stopped serious crime by people who are in the country illegally,” Stewart said. “Overall, I think it’s had a very positive effect on the community.”

Nnamdi cited statistics that he said showed less than 2 percent of people charged with crimes in Prince William County were illegal immigrants.

Stewart threw out a few figures of his own.

“So far we’ve detained and handed over to ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]for deportation 1,356 illegal immigrants who committed crimes in Prince William,” Stewart said.

Stewart said that the numbers might be small because illegal immigrants went away because of the resolution.

“They’re leaving Prince William because they’re afraid of getting caught and getting deported and I think that’s a good thing,” Stewart said.

Stewart also took questions from Nnamdi’s listening audience.

One caller asked if it had proved true that crime victims are now afraid to call police for fear of being deported.

Stewart said the county has an outreach program in place that is designed to assure victims that they won’t become targets for deportation.

“We’ve consistently ... been having a lot of meetings to reassure the community as a whole and the Latino community in particular that this program will not be used to identify or ask the immigration status of people who are victims or witnesses of crimes,” Stewart said.

Stewart also told the listeners that he wanted people to know that Prince William County welcomes diversity.

“We want to make clear that we are a very diverse and welcoming community of everyone, regardless of where they’re from, provided that they’re here legally,” he said.

Nnamdi asked Stewart if he would do anything differently if he had it to do over again.

Stewart said he would work harder, earlier to explain the resolution, but he would still put it in place.

Manassas Bureau Chief Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.