Manassas may limit services to aliens

The city of Manassas could become the next Virginia locality to enact measures targeting illegal aliens.

Manassas City Council member Marc T. Aveni, a Republican, yesterday said he wants to introduce a resolution similar to one passed by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in July, which would deny public services to illegal aliens and toughen local immigration enforcement.

“I need to get the rest of the council on board, but I think it”s absolutely something we would want to do,” Mr. Aveni said, citing inactivity at the federal and state levels as one of the main motivating factors. “It’s becoming apparent that, if anyone’s going to save Manassas, it’s Manassas.”

Mr. Aveni made the comments at a news conference organized by the anti-illegal-immigration group Help Save Manassas at the Prince William County Government Center.

Manassas would join several localities that recently passed or are considering immigration-related resolutions, including Loudoun, Culpeper, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Chesterfield, James City and Page counties.

Corey A. Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, applauded the willingness of neighboring localities to take a stand on illegal immigration, unlike Fairfax County, where he said, Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, has said that immigration enforcement is a federal job.

“One of the reasons I was upset with Gerry Connolly is because in order to do this effectively, we need to do it on a regional basis,” said Mr. Stewart, at-large Republican. “So we’re more than happy that Manassas wants to join.”

Mr. Connolly, a Democrat, has shrugged off the criticism as political posturing and highlighted successful efforts to crack down on single-family homes that have been used as illegal boarding houses.

The announcement about the resolution occurred as the immigrant-advocacy group Mexicans Without Borders ended a weeklong boycott of businesses in Prince William County not owned by immigrants. The boycott, which began Aug. 27 and ended yesterday, targeted businesses the Hispanic community deemed as hostile to immigrants.

While it’s difficult to measure the effect of the boycott, anti-illegal-immigration groups and some local government officials denounced what they called “bullying tactics” of illegal-alien advocates.

Mr. Stewart said he didn’t think the boycott had any effect.

“I’ve heard several instances of people coming in from Fairfax, Stafford or other counties to shop in Prince William,” he said.

Help Save Manassas President Greg Letiecq said he heard that few, if any, businesses were reporting negative effects as a result of the boycott.

“If the goal was to have the Board of Supervisors crumble … and give up the resolution, that hasn’t happened,” Mr. Letiecq said.

Nancy Lyall, a spokeswoman for Mexicans Without Borders who organized the boycott, described the boycott and a rally that drew thousands of immigrant supporters Sunday in Prince William County as “tremendous successes.”

“The point of the boycott was to draw attention to the resolution and how that resolution is going to harm the county economically — both in terms of consumer dollars and tax dollars,” she said. “We’re drawing attention not only to the economic issue but to the fact that it violates human and civil rights by targeting a segment of the population.”

Hispanics make up about 18 percent of the county’s population, according to census data.

Alan Clary, manager of the Ace Hardware store in the Woodbine Station Shopping Center in Manassas, said he hasn’t noticed a drop in business over the past week.

“I haven’t noticed anything,” Mr. Clary said. “We see the same customers over and over.”

At shopping centers throughout the county, several businesses displayed in their windows green signs that read, “We Are a Pro-Immigrant Business. Rescind the Prince William County Anti-Immigration Resolution.”

Reggie Bembry, manager of the Dollar Tree at the Wellington Station shopping center in Manassas, said weekly sales were down 20 percent compared to this time last year.

“Their money is as green as anybody else’s money,” Mr. Bembry said. “Right or wrong — I don’t have an answer for that, but I do see it affecting our business.”

Managers at several businesses declined to comment on the boycott or its effect on sales, referring press inquiries to their corporate offices, which could not be reached for comment yesterday.