Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Commissioners. 

I’m Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch, a government watchdog group based in Washington, D.C.  Judicial Watch is honored to represent many concerned Herndon citizens who adamantly oppose this proposed use of taxpayer monies for illegal purposes.  We sent you a letter to this effect on July 25, and I appreciate your willingness Mr. Chairman to make that letter a part of the official public record in this matter.

It is illegal to hire undocumented workers.  It is illegal to hire someone without ensuring they are legally eligible to work here.

It is illegal to “encourage or induce an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law.”  It is illegal to aid or abet the commission of such acts.

And, yes, it would be illegal for a town to expend taxpayer monies or provide support to facilitate such illegal activities.  There is no doubt what this site is designed to do.  It is designed to facilitate illegal activity:  the illegal hiring of illegal aliens.  A member of the Town Council has admitted this.  Those seeking approval for this application have admitted this.

So, for the Planning Commission to recommend this plan would be illegal under federal law.  But it would also be illegal under Virginia law.  Any Planning Commission, town, or county support for this site would constitute an ultra vires act, since no public official has any inherent power to authorize or facilitate unlawful acts using taxpayer funds.

For whatever reason, the Town of Herndon has allowed illegal activity to go on unchecked at the 7-Eleven and elsewhere.  Now government officials would use taxpayer money to fund this illegal activity and allow it to take place on public property.  This is akin to taxpayer dollars being used to fund a red-light district or an open-air drug market, so that “customers” and “suppliers” can have safe, well-run locales in which to carry out their illegal transactions.

The Commission must determine whether this proposed site is “detrimental to the public welfare.”  Illegal activity is inherently detrimental to the public welfare.  Under your own standard of review, under the laws of this Commonwealth, and under the laws of the United States, you must decline to support this proposal.  If you do support it and it sees the light of day, Judicial Watch virtually guarantees a lawsuit will be filed on behalf of Herndon citizens.  If the citizens of Herndon can’t persuade you and your colleagues in the town, government, and county to obey the law, perhaps a court can.

Thank you.

Further information can be found in our press release.