County in Virginia Drafts Arizona-like Measure

The Prince William County in Virginia released on Thursday an Arizona-like piece of legislation called the Virginia Rule of Law Act. The measure enhances police official’s power to capture, detain and deport undocumented immigrants. It will also place restraints on illegal day laboring and create specific state penalties for undocumented immigrants. Similar to the SB 1070 local authorities are required to check the status of detainees under “reasonable suspicion” of being here illegally. However it will not make it illegal for people not to carry their immigration documents with them. Its main proponent, Chairman of the County Board Corey Stewart, says the legislation goes a step further than Arizona’s.

Stewart’s legislation places restrictions on private transportation by making it illegal to register a vehicle in the name of an undocumented immigrant and to transport any undocumented individual. It goes further by preventing illegal immigrants from purchasing real estate and adding fees to international wire transfers of money. All the proceeds collected from undocumented immigrants would be allocated to support the efforts of legislation. The Chairman of the County Board is confident that his legislation will avoid some of the pitfalls the Arizona immigration bill has encountered.