Va. county: Tough laws repelling illegals

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Months after Prince William County began one of the country's strongest crackdowns on illegal immigrants, some officials and residents say illegals and other residents appear to be leaving.

Dave Whitlow, town manager of Dumfries, said officials started noticing the change a few months ago when they canvassed communities popular among Hispanic families and found roughly 165 residences vacant among 1,600 houses and townhouses.

"We are having many more leaving," Mr. Whitlow said. "It's been just the last few months."

In July, the Board of County Supervisors unanimously agreed to have the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency train six police officers and one resident for an Alien Crime Unit.

The detail began enforcement March 1 and is assisting officers, who have a suspect in a crime — including traffic offenses — and find probable cause that he or she is in the country illegally. Before then, officers were not authorized to make arrests for illegal immigration.

Board Chairman Corey A. Stewart said this week he was not surprised about signs that illegal immigrants were leaving.

"There's no question the police have had the effect," said Mr. Stewart, a Republican planning to run for lieutenant governor. "The message that we are sending is: 'If you are an illegal alien, you are not welcome in Prince William County.' Time sure will show illegal aliens are leaving the county."

Jason D. Grant, spokesman for the Prince William's Department of Economic Development, said the county has not seen signs of an economic downtown as a result of the crackdown, but officials, merchants and residents say changes are obvious.

OfficialsinDumfries— a town of roughly 5,000 residents on the southern tip of Prince William —also said about 10 percent of housing units are for sale or in foreclosure.

"I think that's high," said Mr. Whitlow, adding most of the units are in communities of townhouses where Hispanics live. "Tax records here have many Hispanic surnames as home buyers. It's been a long time since we've seen an obvious vacancy rate like that."