Virginia legislation takes on Latino flavor

RICHMOND

When Isabel Castillo was 6 years old, her parents brought her across the border from Mexico, settling in Virginia.

But it wasn't until her senior year of high school that she realized her status as an illegal immigrant would disqualify her for in-state tuition at state colleges and jeopardize her dream of earning a degree, she said.

A bill before the General Assembly would change the outlook for students like Castillo by giving them in-state tuition.

It's one of a cluster of bills this session - many renewed attempts from past years - with implications for Virginia's Latino population. Some aim to prevent discrimination and help illegal immigrants; others hope to root them out.

Del. Alfonso Lopez, D-Arlington, has proposed providing in-state tuition to illegal immigrants if they have lived and paid taxes in Virginia for at least three years and apply for legal residency. The goal, he told the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations on Tuesday, is to help those students obtain an education and legal status so they can better contribute.

Another bill, killed in subcommittee Tuesday, would have required public elementary and secondary schools to verify students' immigration status during registration.

Melanie Maron Pell, director of the American Jewish Committee in Washington, D.C., said the legislation would have had a chilling effect on education. A similar effort in Alabama, she said, resulted in thousands of children skipping school.

A bill by Sen. Dick Black, R-Loudoun, would require police to check the immigration status of anyone they pull over for a traffic stop if the person cannot produce a driver's license or other proof of legal residency. It would also allow police to detain the person.

Black said the bill is aimed at finding illegal immigrants, such as one who in August 2010 drove intoxicated into another vehicle in Prince William County, killing a nun and injuring two others. In a similar case in Virginia Beach in 2007, an intoxicated illegal immigrant with a prior DUI drove into and killed two teen girls.

The Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police has not taken a position on Black's proposal, said executive director Dana Schrad. But its members are concerned it could lead to greater fear of police and prevent illegal immigrants from cooperating when they witness or become victims of crimes, she said. Police already check the immigration status of people they arrest.

Other proposals before legislators would prohibit job discrimination based on race or national origin, require day labor sites to verify employment eligibility of workers, expand state medical benefits to pregnant immigrants and their children for their first five years of legal residency and require non-English-speaking convicts to pay the cost of providing an interpreter for their court proceedings.

Del. Manoli Loupassi, R-Richmond, said it doesn't make sense to pass that cost onto taxpayers. Defendants cleared of their charges won't have to pay.

"It's not that I have anything against people who don't speak English," he said. "But if you're a criminal and you've been convicted beyond a reasonable doubt, then you ought to bear that cost."

Virginia Beach Circuit Court, for example, spent nearly $26,000 on interpreters for defendants, victims and witnesses last year, said court administrator Mike Davy.

The tab for most defendants is less than $150, and the majority speak Spanish, he said.

That bill was among those the Latino coalition hoped to discuss with legislators Tuesday.

"We ask our politicians to stop dividing Virginians and instead focus on legislation that matters to all of us," said Leni González, president of an Arlington chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, "such as creating jobs and opportunities for all."

Kathy Adams, 757-222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com