Illegal Aliens Encouraged in Fairfax [Sanctuary] County
(FCTA emails and Sharon Bulova response)
David Swink to FCTA -- 2015-07-15
Found that 2007 Washington Post article with Gerry Connolly's implied reference to Fairfax as a sanctuary county. Also an earlier Washington Times reference via this link, plus a 2010 ASU New21 article comparing Fairfax and Prince William on this matter.
Have posted these 2007 and 2010 articles on the FCTA web site.
And there's my posted 2015 list of Sanctuary Cities, courtesy of the Ohio Jobs & Justice PAC.
Dave
Chuck McAndrew to FCTA -- 2015-07-15
It's no wonder that the Fairfax County school population has soared in the last 8 years! And then you factor in the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program that now has around 32,000 ESOL students at a cost of around $14,670 per ESOL student, now you have a huge figure of $471 MILLION per year! It is possible that out of 32,000 ESOL students, maybe HALF of them are students of illegal alien parents. We don't really have a precise figure because the County does NOT track this information, so they say. Last, but not least, keep in mind that the Fairfax County, last Summer, allowed 1,373 "unaccompanied minors" into the Fairfax County school system, i.e., illegal aliens at a cost of over $20 million. We still don't know if the county was ever reimbursed from the Department of Homeland Insecurity for this amount.
Chuck
Chuck McAndrew to FCTA and to Chairman Sharon Bulova -- 2015-07-25
According to the Washington Post page A2 titled, "House votes to punish 'sanctuary cities" dated July 24, 2015, and I quote, "the House voted on Thursday to punish local jurisdictions known as sanctuary cities that defy federal immigration authorities in order to protect immigrants living illegally in the USA". The article also quoted Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA.) as stating, "The American people have the right to not give their tax dollars to municipalities and states that do not follow federal law." These ridiculous sanctuary laws encourage people to immigrate here. These sanctuary laws were designed by liberals to shelter illegal aliens from deportation. What the House passed is a bill that provides a minimum sentence of FIVE years in prison for illegal immigrants who enter the U.S. after already being deported.
In the latest TIME MAGAZINE dated August 3, 2015 pages 44 through 47 titled, "The Kill Zone" is a real eye opener! Here is a quote from the article, "The recent surge in killings in El Salvador has become a problem for the U.S. Gang violence has prompted many young people in Central America to flee their homes, leading to U.S. authorities detaining record numbers of unaccompanied migrant children crossing Mexico's border with the U.S. Some gang members are also heading north to join the Salvadoran gangs that still operate in American cities". Here is another quote, "El Salvador is now experiencing the highest homicide rates in decades. This June saw 677 murders in the nation of 6 million people. If this level of killings continues for the rest of the year, El Salvador will become the most murderous country outside of a declared war zone, topping Honduras, which is also being torn apart by gang violence". So you see, we are getting the violent criminals coming over our borders by the boxcar loads! Maybe Trump was right when he said that some of the people that illegally cross our border are criminals! And of course, Fairfax County, being a sanctuary county, will get some of these criminals as they tend to move into sanctuary cities and/or counties according to the information I have read.
Did anyone on the FCTA Board know that the sanctuary county of Fairfax was established under the former Democratic Chairman Connelly who is now a Congressman? Isn't amazing that when the Republican Chairman Corey Stewart of Prince William county and his county board got TOUGH with illegal aliens that they fled to Fairfax County around 2007-2008? Did anyone notice that the school population soared in Fairfax County? I believe that this should be a MAJOR ISSUE for the FCTA Board to pursue. Why did the county keep this a secret? I never read about this or even heard about this until Rob notified all of us and Dave found the article. So now we have a county board that really does encourage illegal immigrants entering into the county AND AT WHAT COSTS! Notice how ESOL costs are soaring through the roof in the last 7 or 8 years? Soaring ESOL costs means more teachers and that means more salaries and fringe benefits! That also means more increases in our real estate taxes! It is not fair to the Fairfax County taxpayers to fund illegal immigrants and also children in our schools that have parents that are illegal immigrants! It is now time for ACTION!
Chuck McAndrew
Response by Fairfax Co Chairman Sharon Bulova -- 2015-07-27
Dear Mr. McAndrew:
Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns regarding illegal immigration and the impact it has on Fairfax County. This is a very important issue and does have a profound effect on our community.
However, as you may know, immigration is a federal matter and the federal government makes immigration law and secures our borders. Fairfax County complies with all federal immigration laws and Fairfax County government agencies work regularly with federal authorities on immigration issues. The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office even piloted the Secure Communities program under a partnership with U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) starting back in 2009. Under this program, which is now called the Priority Enforcement Program, the immigration status of anyone arrested in Fairfax County is verified at the Adult Detention Center. You can find out more about the Priority Enforcement Program by visiting the ICE website.
The County does not have the necessary resources to have our local police act as a substitute for federal agents. If the county were to assume further federal responsibilities, it would place an additional demand on our resources. Any such effort would compete with police officers' time currently spent on public safety and law enforcement. It would also compete for fiscal resources against other county programs. Fairfax County continues to be one of the safest jurisdictions of its size in the U.S. despite an ever changing and growing set of challenges our police department faces.
Fairfax County complies with both federal and state laws which require the County to make sure that those persons who benefit from many of our programs and services are legally present in the United States. More specifically, federal and state laws provide that certain federal and state benefits can only be provided to persons with a legal presence in the United States. Such benefits include voting in elections, retirement, welfare, foods stamps, health, disability, and public or assisted housing. Federal and state laws also require the County to hire only persons who are legally present in the United States and to procure goods and services from providers who do not knowingly employ an unauthorized alien. The County follows those laws, and we verify legal presence in the United States in all those situations.
However, federal law also provides some exceptions to the verification requirements for the education of children, treatment of emergency medical conditions, health care for immunizations and communicable diseases, disaster relief, and certain programs and services as specified by the United States Attorney General. We do not have the authority to, for example, prohibit children of illegal immigrants from attending Fairfax County Public Schools; the United States Supreme Court ruled in Plyer v. Doe (1982) that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits denying a free public education to immigrant children based on their or their parents' legal status.
As far as being a so-called "sanctuary city", that term has no legal or commonly agreed upon meaning. Typically, as I understand it, a sanctuary city or county is one that has policies that specifically prohibit its agencies from enforcing federal immigration law or participating in programs like the Priority Enforcement Program. Fairfax County does not have any such prohibitions and, as I described above, actively assists the federal government.
Thank you for contacting my office and expressing your concerns.
Sincerely,
Sharon Bulova