Loudoun Backs Off Anti-Immigrant Stance

According to today's Washington Post, the new Democratic majority on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors:

voted to back off from a key component of the county's highly publicized crackdown on illegal immigration. A few months before the November election, the board's Republicans passed a resolution aimed at driving out illegal immigrants, who they said bring blight and crime to neighborhoods.

Burton and four of the board's five Democrats yesterday decided not to follow through on one aspect of the effort. The previous board had voted to ask the state legislature to allow it to withhold business licenses and building permits from illegal immigrants and the businesses that knowingly hire them.

The reason for the new direction assertedly is the cost of the program:

Several supervisors said yesterday that it was a waste of money for counties to enforce federal immigration laws.

"Spending our resources to enforce federal law means we're paying for something twice that we're only getting once," said Supervisor Stevens Miller (D-Dulles). "We all pay our federal taxes. Let them enforce it."

I say "assertedly" because it is possible there was pressure from businesses that benefit from a larger labor pool.  However, with the decline in housing prices, many counties across the nation are facing budget difficulties.  The vote was a tight one -- 5-4.  http://www.loudountimes.com/ne...

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