Who speaks mean-spirited and divisive?

Posted by ( zcxnissan ) on April 19, 2008 at 2:06 am

Let the elected officials do their jobs as well as let the police enforce the laws on the books, enough said. It is sad we have to deal with this illegal problem B.s. from all the illegals and apologists in the county. I cry crocodile tears for the suffering illegals. Chris Cummings

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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on April 17, 2008 at 4:10 pm

barnun, didn’t mean to say Bush was the problem, just we’re under his shift right now. I don’t like Bush at all but wholly agreed and supported his Immigration Package that was shot down by BOTH sides of the aisle. Someone (you?) stated not hard enough for the righties and too loose for the lefties! That’s when you know you’re RIGHT.
The question becomes how do we in PWC stop this mudslinging and start to discuss rational options to explore?

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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on April 16, 2008 at 9:43 pm

barnun, thus the question becomes which path to take to solve the problem. Do we send our troops out single file or spread them across the terrain? Have one approach or a multi-pronged effort. We need to get away from ‘how we got here’ to where are we going and how’.

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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on April 16, 2008 at 6:46 pm

barnun, you see this is an issue the Bush Administration has avoided in order to help his BIG BUSINESS supporters. And I mean BIG BUSINESS, like the 400,000 acre farms and meat processing plants. They need the labor to keep our food prices acceptable and from Bush’s point of view, keep inflation under control during his watch. He ain’t keepin’ the borders open to help little guys like me!

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Posted by ( Vic ) on April 16, 2008 at 7:12 am

PROGRESS IN PRINCE WILLIAM
By arresting and deporting illegal immigrants, the county begins to heal itself.

LAST SUMMER, the citizens of Prince William County, Virginia, declared they had enough already. Enough of the thousands upon thousands of illegal aliens who continue to invade the county with their poverty, crime and diseases. Enough of their unchecked demands for tax-free education, health care and other community services. Enough of their overcrowding of local housing, as well as their lawlessness, filth and blatant disregard for any sense of propriety, morality or common decency.

So county leaders drafted a resolution that committed the county to work more closely with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Branch of the federal government. The Board of County Supervisors held multiple hearings on the subject, heard a wide range of viewpoints, and eventually and unanimously passed the resolution into law.

As part of the plan, county law enforcement authorities committed to work with ICE and get the necessary training and certifications on immigration law and detention procedures. The county also decided to reach deep into its own budget coffers and commit to spend about $6.4 million in the first year, as the first installment of an expected total program cost of about $26 million over the next five years – to support additional staff, facilities and equipment. And recognizing the need to immediate action, Prince William’s elected supervisors opted to drain $800,000 from the county’s reserve fund to get the program up and running before the new fiscal year starts July 1.

In launching its long overdue crackdown on illegal aliens, Prince William County realized it must do what the State of Virginia and the national government have thus far failed to do—that is, enforce state, national and international laws on immigration and border security, promote appropriate health, safety and labor practices, and stem the rising tide of human trafficking in those who steal jobs and livelihoods from honest citizens, disrupt neighborhoods and communities, pay less than their “fair share” of taxes, don’t invest in local community services and generally, remit most of their ill-gotten monetary gains to other countries.

While some county leaders and citizens continue to worry about the high cost of the initiative, most also realize that the cost of inaction would be so much greater – in such things as declining property values across the county, lost jobs and livelihoods for honest citizens, higher costs for running county schools, hospitals and other community and social service activities, higher crime rates, and fewer revenues from the county tax structures.

Since the resolution took effect earlier this year, there have indeed been a few more arrests of suspected illegal aliens in Prince William County. According to county police chief Charlie Deane, most of these arrests would have taken place anyway – regardless of the resolution – because those being arrested are also accused of other crimes. The only real difference now is that county officials are also looking into the citizenship of their suspects, and checking with ICE to see if the federal agency has placed any retainer on these suspects. And unfortunately, given the high number of illegal aliens in Prince William County, the number of arrests has managed to exceed the “amount of available bed space” that ICE has for detaining illegal aliens – and forced a slowdown of some inmate transfers.

County officials have been working with ICE to develop some options – and both sides are encouraged that they will come up with a fair and equitable solution. Yet, those who would like to see this effort fail – are seizing this temporary turbulence and using it as an opportunity to say, “I told you it would be difficult, so why did you even bother to try?”

Yet, even the critics cannot discount the fact that the modest efforts to date have already resulted in some desired effects and outcomes. Independent reports from around the county indicate that many illegal aliens are realizing their days are numbered, and so they are voluntarily leaving. County school leaders report substantial drops in the numbers of illegal alien students –and fewer requirements for English as Second Language classes, additional teachers, equipment and instructional materials. The county’s emergency health care facilities are no longer as crowded with illegal aliens as they once were, nor are there as many lost costs and other unreimbursed expenses to be written off or passed along to paying customers.

Finally, county citizens are starting to feel that it just might be safe to venture out again and enjoy life within their neighborhoods and communities. And that, perhaps most of all, simply infuriates the opponents of law and order in Prince William County.

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