Dan Genz, The Examiner
2008-04-25 07:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

Prince William County’s landmark crackdown on illegal immigrants is under attack heading into the Board of Supervisors’ critical budget session.

The supervisors, who unanimously approved the crackdown in October, now are divided about whether to change or even rescind the policy after just seven weeks in operation.

County officials have estimated the program will cost the cash-strapped county millions more than originally expected and the police chief has said the program is only catching illegal immigrants officers would have caught anyway.

After Supervisor Frank Principi proposed reversing the policy, some of his seven colleagues said they are preparing to at least alter the plan to limit the county's risk to lawsuits and tailor it to produce better results and save money.

The public face of the crackdown, County Chairman Corey Stewart, urged his supporters in an e-mail Thursday to attend the budget meeting and voice public backing for the resolution.

“We're in survival mode,” he told The Examiner, saying he favors keeping the initiative in its current form. “At this point, I'm going to be focused on saving the policy from being rescinded and I'm not going to be focused on any changes to it.”

The crackdown directs police officers to check the legal status of suspected illegal immigrants accused of breaking the law, including traffic violations.

The county attorney is expected to brief the board on proposals to limit the county's legal risk after supervisors unanimously killed plans to spend more than $3.1 million to place cameras in every police car to guard against litigation. Supervisors say the changes could result in a higher standard of violation before officers check legal status.

Supervisor John Jenkins, D-Neabsco, said he seeks changes that could focus on “the worst of the worst,” instead of traffic violators.

Police Chief Charlie Deane reported in early April that most of the 41 illegal immigrants arrested in the enforcement of the policy, including just eight felony suspects, would have been arrested without the policy.

“We cast the net out there and look what came up, you got … people in there arrested for misdemeanors,” Jenkins said. “You were going to get these guys anyway. At some point, you're just throwing good money after bad.”

dgenz@dcexaminer.com