Beltway Area Indymedia

I had the pleasure, and displeasure, yesterday of attending the hearing at which the Prince William County (Virginia) Board of Supervisors passed one of the most draconian, anti-immigrant pieces of legislation on the books to date in the United States. The pleasure lay in seeing people stand up for their humanity, and what is right. The displeasure lay in seeing the anti-immigrant sentiment, whipped up by the powerful elite, exert its influence on the Board of Supervisors.

The law will require police to verify the legal status of anyone they detain, even for minor traffic violations, and does not require that any actual crime have taken place. In words, it will also take away county services from individuals who are not able to satisfactorily prove their legal status. Emergency health care (which is very, very limited), and education for children, will not be affected, as the Supreme Court has already ruled that such rights are guaranteed. As such, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors did not include such services in the law, knowing that a law including their denial would be quickly struck down in the courts. In practice, many, including myself, fear that this law will be used as a pretext for continued racial profiling, and will only lead to the further criminalization of those who dare resist imperialism.

Prior to the beginning of the hearing, hundreds of Latinos, other immigrants, and their allies, rallied outside the county building, with some signs reading “Let Our People Go!”, “ICE Deported My Mother Last Month”, “No One is Illegal!”, and “Stop Racism!”. The group, after a series of spirited chants, entered the building en masse to show their opposition to the bill, introduced by Board member John Stirrup, and backed by the racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant group “Help Save Manassas”, closely aligned with Herndon's “Help Save Herndon”, and the racist Minuteman Project. Of an estimated 700 people attending the hearing, roughly 500 opposed the anti-immigrant measure.

After a few other legislative matters were dealt with, the Board begun to hear testimony from those who had signed up at the hearing to speak. Faith-based groups, Arab-American organizations, and a number of other human rights organizations, including Mexicanos Sin Fronteras (Mexicans without Borders), a Puerto Rican legal defense group, and a number of Prince William County residents all expressed their extreme opposition to the anti-immigrant bill. As person after person denounced the hypocrisy of the bill (pointing out that many of European descent in attendance were at one time here “illegally”), and compared the current situation to that of the historical criminalization and commodification of Africans and African-Americans (slavery), the crowd erupted in applause. Speakers also highlighted the United States government's role as a global trade bully, forcing countries further into poverty through neoliberal economic policies, and disadvantageous “free trade” deals.

Members of the anti-immigrant group “Help Save Manassas” repeatedly used racial slurs, including terms like “anchor baby”, in the course of their testimony (“anchor baby” is a racial slur used to describe a woman who has a child in the United States so that the child will be a citizen). Greg Letiecq, of 9702 Dublin Drive in Manassas, and one of the leaders of the group, could hardly mask his racist hatred, saying that immigrants were responsible for murders, rapes, and indecent exposure. Such people have given in to racist fear, and seem intentionally ignorant of the driving forces behind immigration.

Despite the opposition of nearly 2/3 of the estimated 115 people who chose to testify at the hearing, and the opposition of most in attendance, the all-white Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the anti-immigrant bill. Residents, immigrants, and their allies vowed to challenge the law, and to fight on for their human rights.