Local GOP leader slams $50K taxpayer 'slush fund' for families of detained, deported immigrant breadwinners
A Virginia GOP leader is pushing back against a new county program to provide taxpayer-funded grants to the families of illegal immigrants whose primary wage earner was detained or deported...
By Fox News · Fox News
A Virginia GOP leader is pushing back against a new county program to provide taxpayer-funded grants to the families of illegal immigrants whose primary wage earner was detained or deported by federal immigration authorities. Arlington County, which sits across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., endorsed a plan on Sept. 2 to appropriate $50,000 for the social safety-net program. Under the terms of the project, the funds would be given to the nonprofit Arlington Thrive, which would provide up to $2,000 to the families to cover basic needs. "This flies in the face of the Trump administration policy, and it is a detriment to taxpayers of Arlington – tens of thousands of whom are conservative and Republican and oppose this policy," Matthew Hurtt, chairman of the Arlington County GOP, told Fox News Digital. 'ALIEN HARBORING' ACCUSATIONS FLY AS DC-AREA COUNTY SPENDS TAXPAYER FUNDS TO BLUNT ICE Hurtt described the money as a "slush fund" designed to further oppose the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration . He noted that since Arlington Thrive is a nonprofit, it is exempt from transparency protocols that normally apply to government agencies. The County Board praised the program at a special meeting, where it voted 4-0 with one member absent. FIRST ON FOX: ICE QUIETLY ARRESTS JAW DROPPING NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN MASSIVE DC AREA OPERATION "We stand with our immigrant families, and we will not stop doing so," Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said. "We are valuing the families of those that have been displaced and removed." The move follows a recent law enforcement operation in which more than 1,300 illegal immigrants were arrested over a two-week period in the Washington, D.C., and Virginia area. DHS BOSS REVEALS OVAL OFFICE PLAN TO 'WITHHOLD FUNDING' FROM SANCTUARY CITIES AFTER AGGRESSIVE NEW YORK BUST In January, as part of the county's opposition to immigration enforcement, de Ferranti urged residents to report sightings of U.S. Immigration an…