Manassas group to join area immigration debate

A third residents group has formed in Northern Virginia to address concerns related to the influx of illegal aliens in the region.

Help Save Manassas has scheduled its first public meeting for tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at Manassas City Council Chambers.

Greg Letiecq, an organizer who lives in Prince William County, just outside the Manassas limits, said the group was formed to give citizens a voice in the immigration debate.

“It makes a lot of sense to set something up here locally,” he said. “You have people from special-interest groups who don’t live here showing up and saying enforcement is racist … and the citizens are getting overlooked.”

Residents in Herndon and Loudoun County were the first to start such groups, and chapters are planned for other parts of the state.

The primary concerns of Manassas-area residents include overcrowding and illegal aliens’ using taxpayer-funded public services, Mr. Letiecq said.

“We’re not a bunch of nut jobs out there trying to do something bizarre,” he said.

The organization’s draft bylaws include a provision to remove members for inappropriate conduct, said Maureen Wood, head of a steering committee of residents temporarily governing the group.

“We don’t want to be antagonistic,” she said.

Regardless of a group’s intentions, the result of its actions often is discrimination, said Kent Willis, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

“Whether or not these policies flow from bias against Latinos, it is Latinos who are going to feel the brunt of it — and not just illegal Latinos but all Latinos,” Mr. Willis told The Washington Times last month. “The result of these policies is profiling at its worst.”

Mr. Letiecq said Help Save Manassas is a member-driven group. He invited citizens and legal residents of Manassas, Manassas Park and Prince William County to participate.

“When we go and speak as representatives of the community, we are representative of the community,” he said.

The group plans to elect officers, establish membership and approve bylaws at its first meeting.

Help Save Manassas is modeled after Help Save Herndon and Help Save Loudoun.

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