Capital Area Alliance Against Illegal Immigration

Ten grass-roots, citizens’ organizations, representing thousands of concerned citizens across the Washington, DC metropolitan region, have joined today to form the “Capital Area Alliance against Illegal Immigration.” The Alliance’s mission is to promote a united strategy of education, outreach and advocacy to end political and legislative support for illegal immigration in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. The Alliance opposes sanctuary policies and will work towards the elimination of all taxpayer-funded programs, organizations, services, and benefits utilized to encourage and sustain illegal immigration in the Capital region.

Various government policies in the DC area have created a de facto sanctuary region which attracts and sustains illegal aliens. These pro-illegal alien polices do not reflect the will of the region’s taxpaying, voting citizens.

Sanctuary policies undermine public safety, school systems, and hospitals, and erode the overall quality of life for Capital area residents. The growing social, criminal and financial burden of illegal immigration has reached unsustainable proportions. Local businesses, Americans seeking jobs and regional communities suffer as a result of this lawlessness.

Washington, DC-area taxpayers demand accountability from their elected officials and local law enforcement authorities. Working together, the Alliance will leverage their resources, growing membership and average citizens’ frustration against public officials and policies that provide support for illegal aliens in our region, including:

• Washington, D.C. – stopping planned day laborer centers funded by taxpayer dollars (one is planned for Northeast Washington), and abolishing the illegal Metropolitan Police Department Policy that prohibits police officers from inquiring about an individual’s immigration status, and restricts police officers from cooperating with federal immigration officials.
• Maryland – ending the state policy that provides drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens, eliminating taxpayer dollars for day laborer centers and ending funding for free, non-emergency health care centers and services unless proof of citizenship/legal residency is provided.
• Virginia – ending illegal alien “catch-and-release” policies, overturning the sanctuary policies in Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax, and eliminating taxpayer-funded public benefits for illegal aliens.

“It is a travesty that so much of our Capital-area region is a sanctuary for illegal aliens,” said William Buchanan, spokesman for the Alliance from Defend DC. “Local politicians and other leaders should understand that citizens demand safe and secure neighborhoods in which the rule of law prevails. By joining forces, citizens in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia can maximize our effectiveness in seeking political and legal solutions to the illegal immigration crisis.”

The founding member organizations of the Capital Area Alliance Against Illegal Immigration are:
American Border Patrol; Defend DC; Help Save Loudoun; Help Save Manassas; Help Save Maryland; Judicial Watch; Maryland Minuteman CDC; Save the Old Dominion; Vienna Citizens’ Coalition; and Virginia Minuteman CDC. Advisory Group: American Council for Immigration Reform.

April 17, 2008