Posted on 10/03/2007 1:47:13 PM PDT by freespirited
Loudoun County supervisors on Tuesday passed the bulk of a package of legislation designed to crack down on illegal immigration, but deferred until after the November election a measure that would force nonprofits to disclose whether they aid those living in the country illegally.
The board easily pushed through six of its seven proposals, but reached a roadblock as it came to the final, most contentious measure.
They directed county staff to develop a system that would ensure county contractors comply with immigration law and to examine the legality of such checks, which could be extended to land-use applicants.
The board also voted to join a Culpeper group studying local problems caused by illegal immigration, strengthen overcrowding enforcement, and ask the General Assembly for dramatically harsher fines for violators.
While the board agreed to ask nonprofit groups seeking county funding if they comply with state and federal laws, they stopped short of explicitly mandating that those groups answer whether they “provide services, advocate for, or in any way assist” illegal aliens.
Each of the panel’s nine members is up for election on Nov. 6, and each faces an opponent.
“I had hoped we would settle this today,” said Catoctin District Supervisor Sally R. Kurtz, who opposed the measure. “Because it seems to me it needs to be settled not some time after an election, but before an election.”
Some Loudoun County nonprofit groups have called the legal status checks unworkable and potentially dangerous. Andy Johnston, executive director of Loudoun Cares, a nonprofit organization providing food and other services to residents, said nonprofits do not have the training, resources or time to conduct those checks before helping people in need.
“If an 80-year-old woman calls our help line, has a cut-off notice from her gas, would my staff ask her Social Security number? Can she come to our office?” Johnston asked. “Time is of the essence, and her quality of life depends on our ability to help quickly.”
Even the proposition asking nonprofit groups if they follow state and federal laws ran into protest from board members, though they eventually voted it through unanimously.
“I believe we can ask these nonprofits any question, given that they are applying for tax dollars,” said Supervisor Lori Waters, who represents the Broad Run District.
What a difference accountability can make.
Virginia ping
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