Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- A Republican delegate said he will introduce legislation that would cut state funding to local governments that do not check on the immigration status of residents who receive public assistance.
Prince William County Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick said those that don't comply should lose all their state funding, including transportation and economic development dollars.
"Illegal aliens should not have a sanctuary in the commonwealth of Virginia," said Frederick, whose mother is from Colombia and who says he is the first Latino elected to state office in Virginia. "We don't need to provide them with an incentive to cut the line and break the rules."
Frederick said the legislation would toughen a 2005 Virginia law that prohibits local governments from providing some social services to illegal immigrants. He plans to call for every locality to prove its compliance with the law by adopting policies similar to those proposed in Prince William and Loudoun counties.
The northern Virginia counties voted this summer to deny services to illegal immigrants and step up law enforcement efforts against them.
Posted by tyne at August 27, 2007