Prince William County’s Hispanic immigrant population has been outraged, alarmed and united by a new county law designed to be one of the nation’s toughest measures against illegal residents. Meetings this week in Woodbridge, Dumfries and Manassas have drawn crowds in the hundreds as several Latino rights organizations are developing an organized response to the suburban county’s new law.

“There is going to be a very strong reaction here in this county against the resolution,” said Nancy Lyall, a coordinator for the civil rights group Mexicanos Sin Fronteras. “Mainly the residents are talking about fighting back.”

Under a resolution the Prince William County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved July 10, the police department is preparing to check the legal status of residents arrested on charges of minor and major crimes. The county staff also is developing a system to deny government services to illegal immigrants. While those measures will not be installed until September or October, the impact is already being felt. As alarm builds, businesses are reporting drops in sales as some customers try to avoid being in public as much as possible, several Latino rights organizations said.

“People are not buying big-ticket items at this point if they don’t know what their status is going to be in the county,” Lyall said.

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While most immigrants, legal and illegal, are continuing their daily lives, some are discussing plans to leave the whole region, local civic leaders told The Examiner.

“People are feeling this is a lot of discrimination and racism. People live in terror,” said Ricardo Juarez, a coordinator with Mexicanos Sin Fronteras. “They are trying not to be on the streets if it’s not necessary. Some people are planning to leave the county. Some people decide to go to another state, go back to home.”

Prince William County Supervisor Mike May said the County Board will take pains to ensure the policies do not involve racial or ethnic profiling and that the resolution was targeted not at Hispanic immigrants but at any illegal immigrants. The Woodbridge Workers Committee, founded a few years ago to support day laborers in Prince William County, is educating immigrants about efforts to challenge the resolution.

“I personally have had parents who have come to me with their children to say goodbye,” said Teresita Jacinto-Oliva, a member of the Woodbridge Workers Committee. “They are saying goodbye because they do not know what they will do.”

dgenz@examiner.com