Prince William Immigration Law

      Three years ago Prince William County in Virgina passed an ordinance "which initially required police to check the status of detainees they suspected of being undocumented immigrants" (Bahrampour). This ordinance received many of the same responses that the Arizona law does. It has "raised ire among immigrant advocates and [has drawn] sharp criticism from the county police chief, who said it would cost taxpayers more, lead to allegations of racism and erode police-community relations" (Bahrampour).
     The ordinance was modified in 2008 as it was charged as "unconstitutional and could lead to racial profiling" (Bahrampour). The modification directed officers to question all criminal suspects regarding their immigration status once arrested, rather than only questioning those suspected of being illegal immigrants.
    On November 17, 2010 an article was published looking into the Prince William policy and the effect it has had over the years. According to a report for the University of Virginia, the policy "appears to have had some effect, as the growth of the county's Hispanic population now lags behind that of other jurisdictions" (Buske).
                       "The three-year, $385,000 study- released Tuesday by the university's Center for Survey Research- also found that the country's noncitizen Hispanic population, legal and illegal, dropped by 7,700 from 2006 to 2008, and that illegal immigrants accounted for 2,000 to 6,000 of that decline" (Burske).
   Prior to the ordinance, the county had significant growth in its Hispanic population, in fact, it "almost doubled from 2000 to 2005" (Burske). Although growth leveled off in the county once the policy was implemented, growth continued in Washington overall. "The report states that Hispanics are avoiding Prince William and that the county, therefore, did not succeed in implementing an immigration policy without damaging its reputation as a welcoming place to live" (Burske).
   The report goes on to state that while the policy has reduced the number of illegal immigrants in Prince William, not all of the effects have been "good". "Initial distrust of and dissatisfaction with county government has subsided among Hispanic residents of Prince William. The change in attitude can be attributed to adjustments in the policy, community outreach and the decline in attention paid by the media and groups opposing illegal immigration" (Burske).
    Although "the study found that initial fears about racial profiling did not materialize and that only one lawsuit that mentions racial profiling has surfaced" (Burske) (which was ultimately dismissed in court), a Spanish radio show host voiced his disagreements. Accroding to Aragon, " There was racial profiling, and that's the reason why everyone started to leave [and that] the Hispanic businesses and malls are empty. [He said] you used to see 100 people at the shopping center, and after the resolution, you'd see five. You noticed the difference" (Burske).
    Overall, it is interesting to read the effects that such a policy has had over the span of three years. I think it will be quite interesting to look at Arizona statistics after a few years.