Rep. Frank Wolf asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon to scuttle a U.N. human rights official’s postponed visit to inspect Prince William County’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights of Migrants Jorge Bustamante abruptly postponed his trip to Prince William on Monday night, but said he plans to visit again at a later date.

“I understand that this visit has been postponed, but I want to express my complete opposition to Mr. Bustamante’s plans,” Wolf wrote in a letter Wednesday. “I respectfully request that you ensure that U.N. Special Rapporteur Bustamante does not reschedule his visit.”

Bustamante’s visit had been postponed when Wolf learned of the mission and told The Examiner he would raise his concerns when the United Nations next requested funding from his congressional committee. He did not mention budget concerns in the letter.

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A spokesman for the secretary-general said Bustamante and the agency’s other rapporteurs are independent. The secretary-general’s office received the letter Thursday, spokesman Brenden Varma said.

The international examination sparked widespread criticism from illegal-immigration critics and some Prince William officials that it was an unwarranted review of local affairs.

Wolf also accused the United Nations of being slow to investigate accusations of genocide in Sudan that he witnessed “with my own eyes” in 2004.

“The U.N. is failing daily to protect these innocent civilians, most of whom have fled their homes from the dreaded Janjaweed militia and are living in squalid camps.”

But immigrant advocates who had invited Bustamante said he had a right to question U.S. policies.

“Why is this bugging [Wolf] so much?” asked Nancy Lyall, coordinator of the local immigrant group Mexicans Without Borders. “Human rights violations happen everywhere.

 “I agree that there are many human rights violations around the world that the United Nations needs to look into, and Darfur is certainly a tragic situation that needs to be addressed, but that does not mean there are not human rights violations here.”

dgenz@dcexaminer.com