Help Save Fairfax formed

Fairfax County residents concerned about the effects illegal aliens are having on their community have formed Help Save Fairfax, the fifth chapter of the umbrella group Help Save Virginia.

The group is scheduled to hold its inaugural meeting tonight at 7:30 at the Sully Government Center in Chantilly.

Aubrey Stokes, founder of the flagship group Help Save Herndon, said about 30 county residents have contacted him since chapters in Prince William and Loudoun counties last month successfully lobbied for resolutions to strengthen local immigration enforcement and deny public services to illegal aliens.

“This is all basically community-driven,” Mr. Stokes said. “We’ve started getting more and more interest.”

The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday adopted a similar resolution, one week after declaring English the county’s official language. The same day, the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors voted to find out how many illegal aliens live in the county and what services the county can deny them.

The Herndon Town Council on Wednesday voted to continue running a taxpayer-funded day-laborer center while town officials review a proposal for a new operator that will check workers’ legal status.

And Thursday, Chesterfield County released a report estimating that the Richmond suburb spent at least $1.35 million on illegal aliens last year.

Mr. Stokes, who is serving as the primary contact for Help Save Fairfax until the group forms its own leadership, said it’s too early to say what specific demands Fairfax County residents will ask of their supervisors, but he has heard the same concerns as residents in neighboring jurisdictions: overcrowding, informal day-laborer gatherings and public safety.

“Each group that’s formed under the Virginia network has brought a different set of problems and issues they want to get resolved,” he said. “Each one of the different communities are going to have their own dynamic, so it remains to be seen which issues are going to come to the forefront for the people in Fairfax.”

As more Virginia localities seek to restrict services to illegal aliens, Fairfax County residents could see an influx of those illegal aliens, Mr. Stokes said.

“That’s probably a very valid fear in most people’s minds,” he said. “Once one county starts to take a heavy hand on illegal immigration, people are going to see illegal immigrants move to places where [government officials] might not have. Fairfax County is now almost surrounded.”

Fairfax County’s population increased from 969,749 in 2000 to more than 1 million in 2006, U.S. Census Bureau figures show. The Hispanic population increased from about 11 percent to 12.5 percent in the same period.

Fairfax County spokeswoman Merni Fitzgerald said the county has taken steps to address residents’ concerns, such as the creation of “strike teams” to enforce housing code violations. The county employs a “self-management strategy” to deal with informal day-laborer gatherings under which the county funds nonprofit or other groups to act as on-site liaisons.

“We’re not focusing on people’s status but on their behavior in the community,” Miss Fitzgerald said.

Corey A. Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, said Fairfax County’s inaction on illegal aliens undermines efforts by Prince William and other counties.

“Whether Fairfax County taxpayers want to continue to fund county services to illegal immigrants is their business. That is the business of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors. However, when it comes to crime control … this is a regional problem. It’s going to be much more effective if we cooperate.”