From insidenova.com:
What’s happening in Arizona is exactly what happened in Prince William, but board Chairman Corey Stewart says outcry and criticism shouldn’t dissuade the state from going forth with tough new immigration laws.
“Essentially, we were the test case for what’s going on in Arizona,” said Stewart, R-At-Large. “I can tell you the intensity they’re facing is exactly the intensity the board of county supervisors faced, and it came from several corridors … that essentially tried to threaten the county.”
In late April, Arizona’s Republican governor, Jan Brewer, signed into law new immigration policy giving local law enforcement the authority “to reasonably determine the immigration status of a person involved in a lawful contact [with officials],” according to the summary sheet of S.B. 1070 posted on the state’s website. The lawful contact clause in particular caused concern among civil rights activists who foresaw worst-case scenarios where police would engage in racial profiling and de-mand paperwork proving legal status from, say, pedestrians based on skin color.
Prince William County’s immigration policy, by contrast, states that police broach the issue of legal presence only after “physical custodial arrest,” according to a June 2008 press release from the police department on the main points of enforcement procedures.[bold mine]
It is important to note that the ‘physical custodial arrest’ component was a very difficult uphill battle to achieve. The original immigration resolution operated on probably cause.
Regardless of who says what, Corey Stewart fought against changing the probable cause component of the PWC Immigration Resolution.
From antibvbl.net’s archives:
April 30, 2008
Probable Cause Amended, United Board Takes Important Step
The modification of the “Probable Cause” portion of the Immigration Resolution is good for Prince William County. A unanimous vote last night by the Board of Supervisors means that law enforcement here is no longer fundamentally unfair.
PWC Police Officers will no longer be required to check documentation status for minor traffic stops. Therefore equal protection under the law has been restored to citizens and legal residents who fit “probable cause” indicators such as language proficiency.
Police Officers are no longer in needless danger of being accused of racial profiling. Like most other counties in the United States, we will again check legal status only after arrest. Furthermore, legal status will be questioned for ANYONE who is arrested, thus dispelling the appearance of prejudice.
It is a great relief not to have to worry about a nightmare scenario where one of Prince William County’s Finest finds him or herself dragged into court, forced to explain that, “It wasn’t because of her skin color that I arrested a legal citizen who forgot her drivers’ license, it was the way she pronounced the letter ‘L.’”
High praise for Frank Principi and Martin Nohe for working together to outmaneuver Corey Stewart and John Stirrup. High praise for John Jenkins for bringing to bear on this contentious debate his years of experience working out the details of budgets and negotiations in the best interest of the county. High praise for Maureen Caddigan and Mike May. I’m sure it took long hours of soul-searching and ultimately, personal courage for these moderate Republicans to go against their conservative colleagues, Stewart and Stirrup. This progress would not have been possible without moderate Republicans and Democrats working across party lines for the common good. Thank goodness Wally Covington came around to join the moderates and abandon extreme partisan ideology. I will sleep tonight knowing that Corey Stewart and John Stirrup’s last stand has ended
Insidenova further adds:
The question now: Will the heat coming from Arizona ultimately cool Prince William’s policy?
That’s doubtful, Stewart said.
“We were told we were going to get sued, that what we were doing was unlawful, it would lead to an explosion of racial profiling cases,” he said. “And you know what? Not one case ever held. As of about one month ago, the jail had handed to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials] 2,350 illegal aliens [since 2007] who had committed crimes in the county. It’s even more now.”
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch—a nonprofit organization in Washington that helped Prince Wil-liam develop its immigration policy—said he believes most Arizona residents are behind the law.
“I think Arizona’s law is going to result in more enforcement, not less,” he said. “Arizona overwhelmingly supports the law and that reflects the view of most Americans and people who want border control.”
Not all agree, however, and characterize both county and Arizona immigration laws as discriminatory policies that will ultimately crumble.
“What we saw here in [the county] is the same kind of unconstitutional, anti-immigrant overreach that we’re now seeing in Arizona. [It’s] a far-reaching law that is probably unconstitutional and impossible to enforce,” said Pete Frisbie, chairman of the Prince William County Democratic Party, in an e-mail. “The result here was that the Board of Supervisors was forced to roll-back its original resolution to something much weaker … I believe we will ultimately see a similar result in Ari-zona.”
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Mr. Stewart is conveniently omitting some vital information. If he truly cares about Arizona, he might also want to advise them of the pitfalls. He might also want to tell them that our resolution changed greatly because of his peers who had the guts to stand up to him. He might also want to tell them how he and his puppet master put a spin on it that they were happy and that the Resolution was stronger…but that he isn’t really telling the truth about that.
Corey, John, and HSM must have brought in an army to draft that Immigration Resolution. FAIR, Judicial Watch, local attorneys. My, my! So many folks involved, just to have the darn thing neutered!
Arizona had better hup to it and get neutering before they get in over their heads.
Mr. Stewart comes across as a rather silly, efeminate individual attempting to boost himself into the national limelight, and a liar to boot.
The AZ resolution is very, very different from PWC’s as Moon excellently demonstrates.
BTW: And just how has PWC’s resolution thingy been workin’ out for y’a?
On Cinco de Mayo, a Call for Comprehensive Immigration Reform | The White House
http://www.whitehouse.gov
‘So today reminds us that America’s diversity is America’s strength. That’s why I spoke out against the recently passed law in Arizona. Make no mistake, our immigration system is broken. And after so many years in which Washington has failed to meet its responsibilities, Americans are right to be frustrated, including folks along border states. But the answer isn’t to undermine fundamental principles that define us as a nation.’
Well stated, Mr. President.
How does the federal government plan to determine who is in this country illegally? Obama states that those who are illegally in the country should be made to pay a penalty, pay back taxes, and learn English. No one has come up with a plan that is ‘legal’ or ‘constitutional’ according to all those complaining about what Arizona is doing, so how are the feds going to do it? If they ever figure that out, then think of the bureaucracy that it will take to determine what back taxes they owe, and then make sure they pay it. Face it, deportation is a heck of a lot simpler and less costly to institute, and we already have agencies to carry it out.
BTW, the PWC Resolution has been working just fine. For one there is now room for people to sit during Citizen Time at the BOCS meetings, and we don’t have to pay for interpreters to boot!
Obama has basically hung the border states out to dry by declaring that he will not tackle immigration reform anytime soon. I hope the other states follow Arizona’s lead and keep forcing the issue, especially as November approaches. There are only so many citizens who will tolerate being called out by Washington and then abandoned to the will of lawbreakers crashing their borders. When the Democratic majority is decimated in November, it won’t be hard to understand why.
I still ask: How is the federal government going to DETERMINE WHO IS ILLEGAL??????
The illegal supporters always ask “But how do you know they’re illegal?” So I’ll ask the federal government the same question. Arizona’s law does one thing, and one thing only, it allows police to ask the question ‘are you legally in the country?’.
Suggestions anyone? Hmmmmm?
@Second-Alamo
We are never going to know and that is the sleeper agenda of this out of control Administration — as they use the census to claim more dependencies and work to allow more non-citizens to vote. Here’s a little ditty that suggests a solution:
I bought a bird feeder. I hung
It on my back porch and filled
It with seed. What a beauty of
A bird feeder it was, as I filled it
lovingly with seed. Within a
Week we had hundreds of birds
Taking advantage of the
Continuous flow of free and
Easily accessible food.
But then the birds started
Building nests in the boards
Of the patio, above the table,
And next to the barbecue.
Then came the poop. It was
Everywhere: on the patio tile,
The chairs, the table ..
Everywhere!
Then some of the birds
Turned mean. They would
Dive bomb me and try to
Peck me even though I had
Fed them out of my own
Pocket.
And other birds were
Boisterous and loud. They
Sat on the feeder and
Squawked and screamed at
All hours of the day and night
And demanded that I fill it
When it got low on food.
After a while, I couldn’t even
Sit on my own back porch
Anymore. So I took down the
Bird feeder and in three days
The birds were gone. I cleaned
Up their mess and took down
The many nests they had built
All over the patio.
Soon, the back yard was like
It used to be …. Quiet, serene….
And no one demanding their
Rights to a free meal.
Now let’s see.
Our government gives out
Free food, subsidized housing,
Free medical care and free
Education, and allows anyone
Born here to be an automatic
Citizen.
Then the illegal’s came by the
Tens of thousands. Suddenly
Our taxes went up to pay for
Free services; small apartments
Are housing 5 families; you
Have to wait 6 hours to be seen
By an emergency room doctor;
Your child’s second grade class is
Behind other schools because
Over half the class doesn’t speak
English..
Corn Flakes now come in a
Bilingual box; I have to
‘press one ‘ to hear my bank
Talk to me in English, and
People waving flags other
Than ‘Old Glory’ are
Squawking and screaming
In the streets, demanding
More rights and free liberties.
Just my opinion, but maybe
it’s time for the government
To take down the bird feeder.
If you agree, pass it on; if not,
Just continue cleaning up the poop.
Finally Corey confesses that we were indeed lab rats for FAIR. We were the test case? “I’ll say!”
We just ran that thread last week didn’t we? Should we thank Corey for his honesty?
Lab rat thread
Starry, now you know this was never a problem until Obama took office. [sarcasm button off now]
Nice knowing we were lab rats and our BOCS encouraged us to be. Way to go, Stewart and Stirrup.
BTW, PWCTax, I don’t appreciate immigrants being compared to bird poop. If you want to do that kind of thing, take it to the dark screen where they enjoy that kind of thing.
I hung my daughter’s milk carton bird feeder and a squirrel hung upside down to shovel all the sunflower seeds into his mouth. So much for nature ditties. Just be glad we’re far up on the food chain.
Bird poop is the best that the anti-illegal alien crowd can come up with. They are experts in fecal matters.
I also saw an article in the Post where Stewart was quoted. Do you think he’s shopping this story around to try to play the local angle and get his name back in the news, or do you think the press came to him?
Who knows Food for Thought, he is so desperate for media attention, it’s sad to me actually. I also find it interesting that Corey did not add that , “although of my dead body would probable cause be rescinded”, that indeed did happen! The most heinous legal challenge to the PWC immigration resolution was amended, thanks to smart thinking Supervisors who had citizen support from all angles, including the business community. I wonder if Corey believe all this stuff he blathers or knows he is simply being a propogandist.
Hi Starry,
You know I agree with much of what you say, however, you seem to be going in a direction that I am not comfortable. I love it when you attack policy, but this “effiminate” angle is out of place and probably not helpful to your point of view.
PWC Taxpayer,
You comparing people to birds and their poop is out of line. However, your words and tone only enforce the view that me and many others believe, that you reduce people to animals and that is unacceptable.
I think Corey is the one Board member who plays the ultimate politician – the politician people can’t stand because he panders, offers nothing but soundbites, is in the race for no one but himself, and represents interests other than the common guy’s. But… there’s that party affiliation going on and the “Rs” out there will vote for him if their only other choice is a Democrat and that’s what he’s counting on.
One of my conservative Republican male friends went to the forum/debate (? – don’t remember) between Corey and Sharon Pandak. He said Sharon made more sense and was much smarter and Corey was a buffoon. But he was worried about mid-county development and said he would vote for Corey because of that issue and the fact that he was a registered Republican.
I suppose in some of these districts voters get what they deserve, but it’s bad when it happens at the Chair leve – and particularly over a federal issue that was used as a sound bite. Remember some of the initial bans that were imposed for undocumented immigrants – no libraries, parks, etc. How costly would that foolishness have been to enforce!?
I thought about taking the bird story down this morning. Did a mental yes/no thing. I thought it was offensive. It wasn’t the first time I had seen it. It reminded me somewhat of the famous dog that turned around to bite the dark screen in the butt over and over and over.
I thought about butt biting…and decided to leave it up.
“You comparing people to birds and their poop is out of line. However, your words and tone only enforce the view that me and many others believe, that you reduce people to animals and that is unacceptable.”
People to birds is a typical type of analogy. If you’re going to make an analogy, you can’t compare humans to anything non-human?
And the anaology isn’t people-to-poop. It’s poop to the things that come along with illegal immigration – overcrowding, wage degradation, higher unemployment for citizens, and imported poverty – all in all, a very big mess to clean up.
As to this whole discussion about Arizona, would that the media would balance out the picture by shedding more light on California, which is wildly fiscally insolvent, has hospitals closing left and right, and has high schools in it where the American flag is treated like a gang sign – http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/Students-Wearing-American-Flag-Shirts-Sent-Home-92945969.html
Interesting attack strategy – much like pulling the race card – to argue that the ditty calls all immigrants – much less the criminally present — poop.
It’s funny, as the headline here says they really are following our path. The pro-illegality crowd is thinking that boycotts and rallies will have some effect. Anyone remember that day in PWC when all the illegal immigrants were encouraged to stay home and not spend money? Boy that really shook our world.
This battle is going to be fought in the courts and in the halls of politics. But my side is on much surer footing than we were 3-4 years ago when ALL our elected leaders in BOTH corrupt parties worked tirelessly to fool us into Amnesty 2006/2007.
If it didn’t work then, with the GOP leadership in the bag for it, it never will work. We may not get rid of all the illegal immigrants and some of them may still be serving us McCoffee in 5 years, but I guarantee that they will be under no particular delusion that citizenship is right around the corner.
You come here illegally, you can stay and be exploited if you insist, I doubt that our two corrupt parties can preclude that, but you are NOT going to jump in line and be rewarded with citizenship for it.
And states DO have a right to protect themselves and their citizens from this problem. George W Bush, Vincete Fox, Barack Obama, John McCain, Michael chertoff, Janet Napolitano, Alberto Gonzales and Eric Holder can all go straight to hell if they don’t like it as far as I’m concerned.
Rick, I don’t think every illegal immigrants want citizenship. I believe many just want to be documented so they can work.
Would you be comfortable with a guest worker program that guaranteed back and forth travel as long as the person followed the rules and obeyed the laws? what restrictions would you put on that?
As for all those people you just told off, I expect they think the same thing about you, Rick. 😉
TP, actually Elena and I took offense to comparing immigrants to animals. That has been done before. It was not well-received. She and I will talk about your contribution’s permanency when we have time.
“Rick, I don’t think every illegal immigrants want citizenship.”
Until the Nancy Lyall and Ricardo Juarez’ of the world convince them that they should.
I think that a guest worker program is appropriate, yes. As with temporary Visas, the number and type of people who come in should be controlled by our (corrupt) government. Restrictions? The employer has to pay for their health care, and no kids.
I KNOW those people I listed feel that way about me, MH. I was living in a hell of sorts for a while here and I can just feel how much those elitist scum cared, about me or about upholding the laws they swear to uphold.
@Moon-howler
Nobody called anybody poop. You just want me gone because I continue to challenge your core beliefs. Saying that that diity does that is nothing short of yelling racist – an increasingly common liberal defense – rather than argue about pulling the incentives for coming here, which is what they ditty is about. Your threat alone demonstrate just how much you want a civil discourse – which is fine as long as liberals are doing the name calling.
Everyone — please see the attached and tell me that that is ok in your America — and for the record, I wear my Irish colors and the American flag together.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/Students-Wearing-American-Flag-Shirts-Sent-Home-92945969.html
Taxpayer, I never used that word at all. It is one of my least favorite words in the English language.
Now listen very carefully…when Elena and I decide, if we decide, that you will be gone, trust me, you will be. I don’t need a reason nor does she. So don’t make your not so veiled threats or whine, grouse grumble or complain. The contributors here may agree or disagree with you.
Listen again. I don’t like that word, however, I never mentioned it. I think it might have to go in the list of forbidden words, however. The main point is, Elena and I don’t like human beings being reduced to animals: birds, rats, roaches, vermin, or any name that euphamistically describes behavior that we don’t like.
@Rick, I don’t know why you are bringing up Nancy Lyall and Ricardo Juarez. They aren[t on this blog. They never aligned themselves with us nor we with them.
I think most immigrants, at least Hispanic immigrants would rather be in their own countries but economic conditions simply make that too difficult. I think many people would be satisfied with just having legal status.
What does citizenship give you extra anyway? The right to vote? Most other things you can do as a legal resident. Citizenship is just more permanent.
I know people who have lived in this country for decades. They have no intention of getting citizenship. It isn’t important to them. It is also very difficult work.
I do think there should be a pathway to citizenship for those who want it however.
The smart ones want neither. Both would mean that you must compete with the rest of us schmucks, pay taxes, and generally abide by the law of the land. They don’t need to be documented to work. On the contrary, if they become documented the work will go their undocumented counterparts.
I noticed it too and I’ve only been on here a couple of days now. I suspect he/she is a homophobe. Probably a racist as well.
As long as questioning of legal status is done within an ADC, jail, or processing station and is done to everyone – I have no problem with AZ enforcing immigration law on it’s own. I object to an ID being used to verify citizenship of Americans and or any nationalized ID for purposes of employment. Both would infringe on privacy and on gun rights.
marin, I don’t think it is done to everyone equally. That is why some of us fought so hard to get probably cause changed to physical custody arrest.
Regardless of what is said, that was a hard fight here locally.
I know. I spoke at the BOCS against the stop & ID tactic and wanted it shifted to checks at the ADC after arrest. It’s the fairest way to provide an objective standard to all rather than the subjectiveness of figuring out PC or RAS in the field as a police officer especially without cameras (car or officer mounted).
Totally agreed. That’s right, you met Alanna, didn’t you?
Somehow I don’t think the people of Arizona care a whole lot about what happened or what is happening in PWC. If you broached the subject with them, the first query they might make, tongue in cheek, is about the length of the PWC border with Mexico.
Wolverine, Chief Deane also brought that up about the border.
There is some interest in what happened here by those trying to avoid some of our pitfalls. I think they are still trying to get it right. These localities need to stop relying on FAIR for their legal advice and go with their own set of circumstances.
If PWC had put the amount of money into neighborhood services and had looked at their 287g program at the ADC rather than getting beguiled by FAIR, our situation would have been much less acrimonious. That probable cause language just gets localities into trouble. Our original immigration resolution also wanted to keep people out of libraries, parks, pools, and if I am not mistaken, schools.
Wolverine is right. People in Arizona have no clue where we are located, but isn’t it amazing how similar US citizens react when faced with an overwhelming influx of illegal aliens into their midsts. The same path is being followed, first the irritation of the citizens who then speak out, followed by marches by the illegals that catch the attention of those citizens not yet aware, then the unsuccessful boycott, followed by a new law. Only in this case the law was put in place first.
“I don’t know why you are bringing up Nancy Lyall and Ricardo Juarez. They aren[t on this blog. They never aligned themselves with us nor we with them. ”
I didn’t mean to suggest any such alignment. I’m just saying, people such as them actively inflame the illegal immigrant community with the notion that citizenship can/will be theirs if they just demand it.
No, you can’t compare people to animals in way that reduces them to something LESS than you or I. I hope I am clear on this, I have always been consistent so my feelings AND Moon-howlers feelings should not surprise anyone.@Rick Bentley
@Elena
You’re right about PWC Taxpayer Elena–it’a case of the river calling the ocean water.
@Moon-howler
I just keep wondering–Do you suppose Jan Brewer Called Corey Stewart for advice on how to stir the anti-immigrant pot? Or perhaps Corey called Jan and said, “Hey Jan, wanna get your 15 minutes of fame? Try this…”
I always think of Forrest Gump at times like this when he said, “Momma always said, ‘Stupid is as stupid does.'”
hmmmmm…I think I know who wants national fame more…..@ George
SA, I expect many people feel that way about any group of people who are somewhat ‘different’ from them. I honestly don’t think that when we boil it down, the ‘illegal’ is the biggest component. Remember, we don’t know who is and who isn’t.
MH, Actually before all this in PWC took the front page, I had noticed an increase in the number of Latinos around. I had no problem with that as with any other proportional group of immigrants into this country. Then one evening my wife and I went to Wal-Mart at 10PM during the week, and I honestly was shocked that 90% of the customers were entire Latino families. It was so disproportional to the general population that when leaving I told my wife I felt like I just left a store in Mexico. I had never experienced that except when visiting other countries. That didn’t bother so much until later, as the news explained, that these people were most likely in the country illegally. The news then brought up what was happening in Herndon, and the rest is history. I’m smart enough to know that the government didn’t naturalize thousands of Latinos overnight, and so based on the news it was a safe bet that most were in the country illegally.
I’m curious about a couple of things–do you suppose SA would have been as overwhelmed if all those people in the Wal-Mart were white, but spoke with an accent?
I wonder if you are white, have an accent and are stopped in Arizona or here in PWC–will you be required to prove you are here legally?
I wonder how many folks with white skin are here illegally and are we going after them the same way we are going after folks with a little more melanin in their skin.
Years ago a teacher did an experiment abouot discrimination with brown eyed and blue eyed kids–you can Google it if you are interested in more info. But just suppose if we were all the same color (perhaps something like coffee with cream) but some had blue eyes and some had brown eyes and we were told those with blue eyes were undesireable–we we go after them? Any bets?
George, I keep confusing that experimental research on public school kids without parental consent with the Stanford prison experiment. Pretty close in results, right?
SA, they don’t have to be naturalized, just documented, to be here legally.
And yes, I will agree with you that the Latino population in Manassas seemed to spring up very quickly. I don’t think that necessarily means any/some/all were illegally here.
I was in a job where the increase was almost unnoticable because it almost seemed gradual.
There are enough illegal aliens and legal immigrants that are not assimilating that one of the leading illegal alien support groups, La Raza, is calling for a revolution.
http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/05/ucla-professor-calls-for-mexican-revolution-in-the-united-states/
Puts the Arizona law into a new light. If racist organizations like this can openly call for revolution or other actions, by foreigners, when do we get to call illegal immigration an invasion?
I have seen this horse’s rear end bellowing for years. I can’t think of his name even. I have no idea why UCLA keeps him on the faculty. However, please do not confuse NCLR (National Council of La Raza) with the group this fool is shouting about. Unfortunately, the term La Raza, meaning ‘the race,’ is used for many negative things like gangs, revolution, Latinos. NCLR is much the same type of organization as is NAACP.
I liken the term la raza to our efforts to keep icons of southern heritage such Robert E. Lee, Confederate flags, etc, out of the hands of rednecks and hate-mongers who use these symbols to advance racism. It is a difficult task at best.
“Do you suppose Jan Brewer Called Corey Stewart for advice on how to stir the anti-immigrant pot? Or perhaps Corey called Jan and said, “Hey Jan, wanna get your 15 minutes of fame? Try this…” ”
Or maybe she had to react to 70% of her state’s population. As Stewart had to react.