Prince William County residents, legal and illegal, should prepare to be counted. A controversial resolution passed unanimously by the Prince William board Tuesday clears the way for the development of a database showing who is a legal resident and entitled to use county programs and who is unable to prove legal status.

The goal is to have one comprehensive file so that once someone is qualified to use the county library, their information will be available if they visit a recreation center or discard rubbish at the landfill.

“It’s going to be an invaluable tool because finally we’ll be able to get some idea of what the illegal immigration population is and what it’s costing us,” said Supervisor John Stirrup, the resolution’s author.

The resolution does not require the database be created, saying instead that county personnel cannot be prohibited from gathering and storing information on the “lawful or unlawful” status of any individual, except when banned by federal or state laws.

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In a county of more than 370,000 people, County Executive Craig Gerhart told the board, a computerized system would probably be necessary to allow a wide array of county agencies to instantly verify someone’s legal status. The county still has to decide what services will be denied and what methods of identification will be used to establish legal residency.

Supporters said the measure will allow the county to save millions of dollars in services provided to illegal immigrants, while opponents warned it would sacrifice privacy concerns and risk ethnic profiling to make a statement against illegal immigration.

“The idea of creating a database with everyone’s name in it and determinations about who is documented and who is undocumented runs against our fundamental notions of privacy,” said Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

But Stirrup said people are used to producing IDs when they write a check and would do the same for county services.

“They don’t mind showing identification or being included in a database if it will stem the growth of illegal immigration,” Stirrup said.

Gerhart said the county staff will include an update on the computer system at a board session on illegal immigration policy in less than 90 days.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com