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Stewart says policy review leader should be disqualified
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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - An upcoming state review of Prince William County’s illegal-immigrant crackdown is generating heat well before it begins, with County Chairman Corey Stewart’s charge that its leader should be disqualified over accusations she once hired an illegal immigrant.
Linda Chavez, whose nomination to serve in President Bush’s Cabinet in 2001 failed when reports surfaced she had employed an illegal immigrant, now chairs the Virginia State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
The panel will meet at the county headquarters in Woodbridge Dec. 14 to review claims that the county’s policy amounts to discrimination against minority residents.
While Stewart said he respected the commission, he strongly objected to Chavez’s role, saying the nomination debacle means, “She is the worst person to be heading this. … She has absolutely no credibility on this issue.”
Stewart’s comments are “absolutely outrageous,” Chavez said, countering that she has 20 years of experience dealing with the immigration issue and is now writing her second book on the topic. The illegal Guatemalan woman living at her home in the 1990s was not an employee, Chavez said, but a woman fleeing an abusive spouse. The woman occasionally did chores and received money for English classes and money to return home, Chavez said.
The Virginia Advisory Committee will hear from elected officials, business leaders and community members to learn more about the county’s policy, Chavez said.
Stewart and other county leaders have repeatedly said the plan expanding immigration law-enforcement checks to local police officers can only be successful if there is no discrimination and that officials will take necessary steps to implement it fairly.
But widespread concerns about the plan’s enforcement have made it a national news story and an important case of immigration reforms, Chavez said.
“Obviously we didn’t just throw a dart at a board and pick Prince William from nowhere,” she said.
dgenz@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
10:09 AM MST on Sat., Nov. 17, 2007 re: "Stewart says policy review leader should be disqualified"
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Examiner Reader said:
Chaves should not only get removed from the position but should also be charged with aiding and abeting if proven that this woman was paid. She is not above the law.
59 agree | 52 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
"Linda Chavez's compassion in giving shelter to a battered and abused women 2 decades ago have anything to do with her ability to her "credibility on this issue." Geez, she was employing an illegal as a live-in maid, and probably paying her $50 a week. Linda Chavez doesn't belong in Prince Williams County. PWC has some good things going on the illegal immigrant issue, and we want to see them deported, or at least pushed into sanctuary in Maryland.
54 agree | 69 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I lived in NM and Colorado so what what issue They love the cheap ass labour there Richardson would make another 15 million legal if he and her could get to win Sorry I live in PWC and they have illegals does this give me a right? Yes kick their butts out Stewart is no racist he is working for PWC
55 agree | 63 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
First who is paying Chavez ? She is a political shill. Is the state flipping the bill? Corey is absolutely correct she is commentator for the Washington Times. She has a dog in the fight another book that she can use PWC for a promotion Now way, Jose, no pun intended but Chavez has to recuse herself.
57 agree | 66 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Linda Chavez has been a pro-illegal stooge for years and years and years. Gee, I'll be really surprised when she comes back and concludes that the policy is illegal.
71 agree | 56 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
This article is "absolutely outrageous." This Corey Stewart fellow sounds like a raging racist. How does Linda Chavez's compassion in giving shelter to a battered and abused women 2 decades ago have anything to do with her ability to her "credibility on this issue." Seems 20 years studying the issue should be credibility enough, but let's look at the rest of her record: She was the highest ranking woman in Ronald Reagan's white house when she head the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. She is the founder and chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity, which has been around for more than a decade studying the immigration issue. She has written 2 books on this topic. And she has lived in both New Mexico and Colorado, 2 states where illegal immigration is a major issue. The writer of this article, Dan Genz, should be ashamed of himself. He clearly has an agenda as evidenced by giving the raging imbecile Corey Stewart the time of day.
62 agree | 53 disagree
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