Supervisor Wants More Action on Illegal Immigration

LEESBURG, Va. -- As Loudoun County rolls out the unwelcome mat to thousands of illegal immigrants in the county, one county supervisor says more needs to be done.

"It's not just our problem. It's national," said Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio on WTOP.

Delgaudio believes illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children are budget-busters.

"Traditional thinking is that if you are born in America you are entitled to education. You're welcome to everything. We've got to rethink that. We don't have the resources to take care of the poor people of the world."

In an unanimous decision, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors passed a measure on Tuesday restricting county services to illegal immigrants. The decision comes just days after Prince William County passed a similar measure requiring people who receive county services to prove they are in the county legally. Delgaudio says the measure will include anyone registering their kids for school.

"We were Prince William before Prince William was cool," he jokes.

Delgaudio blames illegal immigration for an increase in the county's school population and other problems, such as fire engines not being able to get to emergencies because so many cars are parked on streets.

Loudoun County, one of the fastest growing counties in the country, has an estimated 15,000 illegal immigrants within its borders.

"To keep our quality of life, we would have to triple the zoning officials," he says. "We would have to double the police force. Our school system is not keeping up with the growth."

But Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, Virginia coordinator for Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, says she believes Loudoun County is making illegal immigration an easy target for existing problems.

"I heard a lot of blaming immigrants for some of their failed policies that didn't address growth in their county," she said on WTOP.

She wants to see the community sit down and talk about the issue and for more to be done on the national level.

"We need comprehensive federal reform to secure the borders and provide a path to legalization for people who are here," she says. "There is no question we have a broken system, that we need to secure our borders."

(Copyright 2007 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)