Chiarello notes that statewide elections next month in the Commonwealth of Virginia will provide the roadmap for future success or failure in dealing with illegal immigration. And, Chiarello adds, there is an undercurrent of voter interest that may offer some early indication of the results before the actual November balloting.
The lower chamber, the House of Delegates, should remain in Republican hands, which means that GOP lawmakers will attempt another serious effort to curtail the benefits that illegal aliens receive.
However, in the Senate, where open-borders organizations have targeted specific GOP candidates and provided their opponents with financial support, is a different story.
The loss of five or more Republican incumbents would mean that, for all intents and purposes, true immigration reform in the Commonwealth will be dead for another two years because the Democratic do-nothing Governor, Tim Kaine, will not budge on immigration unless he is forced to.
But, according to Chiarello, there is heartening news. In October, the Prince William County's Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to fund a program to use the County's police officers to investigate the immigration status of people caught in criminal activities, despite the vociferous opposition by Latino organizations and the media, particularly the Washington Post, whose editors have never seen an amnesty it did not support.
This move is part of a growing trend, and follows in the steps taken by the newly elected Town of Herndon's Mayor and Town Council last year in closing down a labor site that facilitated the hiring of illegal aliens, and the addition of organizations such as Help Save Loudoun in the neighboring county. But the most unexpected boost for optimism came from none other than the aforementioned Post.
On October 24, it published the results of their own poll in which over 60 percent of those who responded said that they are "more likely" to vote for any candidate for statewide office who wants strong action taken against illegal immigrants. [Poll Finds VA Focused on Illegal Immigrants, By Anita Kumar and Jon Cohen, Washington Post, October 24, 2007]
The tone of the article, which accompanied the poll results, is one of shock and amazement, which tells you a good deal about the media's handling of the issue that may decide not only at the elections in Virginia, but the presidential race next year.
