Posted on 10/17/2007 11:34:58 AM PDT by freespirited
Fairfax County Executive Anthony Griffin ordered high-level staff this month to quantify the number of illegal immigrants living in the county and identify what services the county must provide them, according to a memorandum obtained by The Examiner.
The Oct. 1 document undermines the county’s argument that it cares only about illegal behavior and not legal status, showing that officials are working quietly to assess one of the most explosive issues in Northern Virginia.
Griffin said Tuesday he prepared the memo after an inquiry this summer from Supervisor Michael Frey, a Republican who represents the Sully District. Frey said he hasn’t yet received an answer on what the county is doing to address illegal aliens.
“I suspect there may be some politics involved in not wanting to give out those answers, because those answer may not be what they are supposed to be,” Frey said.
Publicly, county officials have been largely mum on the matter of illegal aliens, while neighboring jurisdictions like Loudoun and Prince William have undertaken highly publicized and controversial crackdowns. Prince William County Chairman Corey Stewart has attacked his counterpart in Fairfax, Gerry Connolly, for failing to address the problem. Connolly has dismissed the crackdowns as election-year bluster that would be impossible to legally implement.
Griffin’s memo seeks not only “the number of persons who reside in the county who are not legally present in the United States,” but a summary of the programs and services the county is required to provide regardless of legal status and those it can only provide to legal residents.
The results, he wrote, will be considered “working papers” that are exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Griffin said he kept the information temporarily proprietary because “I’ve been burned before” on data that were released early. It will, he said, eventually be made public.
Open-records advocate Jennifer Perkins, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, criticized Griffin’s decision.
“This is information that is very important to the public ... and I would hope the chief executive would have the foresight to share this with his constituents,” she said.
That's exactly why the answers should be given out you moron! So the voters can hold the people who are supposed to serve them accountable for their malfeasance.
Isn't being here illegally "illegal behavior?"
A hopeful development for your AFIRE ping list.
CW2 just might start in VA this time. The issue will be the slavery of the taxpaying citizens by the elected and the elites!
CW2 just might start in VA this time. The issue will be the slavery of the taxpaying citizens by the elected and the elites!
virginia ping
How about none?
Must provide?
Frey isn’t a moron. He is commenting on the County’s motivation for not releasing the data.
Fairfax Co has basically beein overrun with illegals and the Left is in control.
Yep, a lot of federal programs can’t be restricted in any way by the state or local officials.
Also, Virginia has what we call the “dillon rule”, which gives the state control over counties, and restricts what counties can do.
In Prince William, we were left with a very small number of programs that weren’t already either restricted by law, or unable to be restricted.
ping
How much fun it is to watch that crook Gerry Connolly squirm. How much more fun it will be to continue to see him squirm.
Hopefully the true numbers will be released and it starts a nationwide accounting.
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