Commission will study effects of immigration

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Virginia lawmakers are establishing a commission to investigate the effects of illegal aliens on the state, as a result of their frustration with Congress' inability to agree on a comprehensive federal policy.

"First we have to develop a picture of the interaction — good or bad — between citizens and immigrants," said Delegate Robert G. Marshall, Prince William County Republican. "Then we will make recommendations we can agree on that we can do as a state."

Mr. Marshall said the commission will investigate the effects of immigration — illegal and legal — on vital services such as education, emergency medical care and law enforcement. He said commission members also will attempt to address the question Virginians repeatedly ask: "Why should I obey the laws if these folks are not?"

The 20-member commission also could help answer what many consider the most overarching question: Where does the responsibility of federal government end and the state's begin?

"I think citizens are expressing a frustration that everybody can't keep saying, 'This is not my responsibility,' " Mr. Marshall said. "Some of it is clearly not our responsibility and some of it clearly is."

Under federal law, the state is required to provide illegal aliens with certain services, including public education and emergency medical care.

An estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens are in the United States. In 2005, Virginia was home to more than 250,000 of them, up from 50,000 in 1996, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

The new commission is lawmakers' latest response to Virginians' increasing anxiety over the issue.

State Sen. Kenneth Thomas Cuccinelli II, Fairfax County Republican, angered some party loyalists this month when he criticized President Bush's support of an immigration plan that many say awards amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.

"President Bush is a good-hearted man, and he is still our president, but as for myself, I no longer consider him the head of my Republican Party," Mr. Cuccinelli said.