Prince William County leaders say the next few months will be a critical time for addressing public concerns about the county’s new illegal-immigration policy before it takes effect next year.

County Police Chief Charlie Deane faces the task of describing the plan, day and night, to groups with concerns about how police officers will adopt their new task of checking the residency status of suspected illegal immigrants stopped for traffic violations or misdemeanor offenses.

“I met with the Eastern Ministerial Council today and the Crime Prevention Council last night, and I have more meetings ahead,” Deane said. “It will be a continual process of getting the message out.”

Because the policy will not be enforced for at least three

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months, county leaders said the waiting period is a critical opportunity to reduce the apprehension among the county’s many immigrants.

“If the outcome of our recent action on immigration is to create a culture of fear in the county, then we have failed,” Vice Chairman Martin Nohe told The Examiner on Tuesday. “The goal isn’t to make Prince William County a less attractive place to live. It’s to make it a safer place to live. We can’t achieve that goal until we’ve gotten beyond the misunderstandings that exist.”

Accompanying Deane on several recent sessions with groups concerned about the policy, Nohe said it is clear the effort must continue to be successful.

But even immigrant leaders who have attended Deane’s meetings express concerns that anxiety levels are high.

Todos Supermarket owner Carlos Castro said when a

police cruiser drove through the parking lot recently, he noticed new fear among customers and staff.

Castro, a leader in the pro-immigrant Ayuda Business Coalition, said he hopes the delay eventually will result in a weakening of the policy.

But residents want to see a continued effort to ensure the plan goes forward, said Greg Letiecq, president of the anti-illegal-immigration group Help Save Manassas.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com