Back in November, Senate Majority Leader-elect Dick Saslaw asserted that "immigration [was] not one of his priorities." Well, he certainly wasn't kidding based on this news:
A special Senate subcommittee on immigration killed two bills that Prince William County officials would have used to further their efforts to deny county services to illegal immigrants.[...]
The special subcommittee on immigration, led by Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw, D-Springfield, did not favor the efforts of Prince William officials to deny real estate tax relief to illegal aliens. The panel additionally gave a thumbs down to a number of bills that would have toughened the state's stand on illegal immigrants.
Sen. George Barker, D-Clifton, sponsored the Prince William bills, SB 424 and SB 425, that would have permitted counties to check the immigration status of anyone seeking property tax exemptions or deferrals.
[...]
[Sen. Louise L. Lucas, D-Portsmouth], Saslaw and Sen. John S. Edwards, D-Roanoke, voted to kill the bills after Supervisor Chairman Corey A. Stewart, R-at large, and County Attorney Ross Horton testified in their favor.
Now, I can't blame anyone for voting against anything that Corey Stewart supports. Still, I wonder how the politics of this will play out, given strong public sentiment to do something about illegal immigration, or at least the effects of illegal immigration in their communities. It seems to me that Democrats need to be proactive on this issue. Now, I don't often have a great deal of praise for Gerry Connolly, but I think he nailed this issue back in September 2007:
*We are taking action when we find people behaving illegally, regardless of their immigration status."
*"...we are cooperating with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), but we are doing so without the specter of racial profiling or inciting fear in our immigrant communities."
*"We are focused on what we as local governments can control...What we will not do is posture for short-term political gains at the long-term expense of driving a wedge into our community..."
*"We all can recognize the challenge posed by illegal immigration. However, we must not allow politicians to engage in the demagogic politics of fear and intimidation that have so divided us in Virginia's past."
I would add that we need to crack down on companies that employ and exploit undocumented workers. Right now, we're not doing that, which is incomprehensible until you look at the massive contributions given by these companies to legislators - mainly, but not only, Republicans.
But the bottom line is that Democrats can't ignore this issue. Neither can they (or SHOULD they!) out-demagogue the Republicans on it. Democrats need to find a middle ground, along the lines of what Gerry Connolly lays out.