Free speech, exercised both individually and through a free press, is a necessity in any country where people are themselves free.

In response to the obvious complaint that this is going to attract and encourage illegal day laborers,

council members said they were helpless in the face of what they called a federal failure to police U.S. borders. They said it was their responsibility to bring order to a neighborhood nuisance that had become the town's most divisive issue in recent history.

"Here we sit, expecting this local government to resolve a national immigration problem that is out of our control," council member Harlon Reece said before the vote.

I sympathize with Mr Reece. I've been in a position where I was being expected to enforce policies that were not being enforced by those above me. Illegal immigration is a federal issue, an international issue, that is being pawned off on local law enforcement all around the country, because our national politicians don't want to alienate immigrants (no pun intended).
Herndon Town Councilman Dennis D. Husch, who opposed the measure along with Councilwoman Ann V. Null in the 5-2 vote, blasted the state and federal politicians for passing the buck on the issue. "Shame on them for their cowardly retreat," he said.

So, I do sympathize with Mr Reese, but his critics are correct. In fact, Judicial Watch addressed the Council before the vote and noted

For the Town Council to recommend this plan would be illegal under federal law [and] under Virginia law... The Town of Herndon has allowed illegal activity to go on unchecked at the 7-Eleven and elsewhere. The solution is not local taxpayer support for this illegal activity... law enforcement is in order, not taxpayer subsidies.

Former State Attorney General and current Republican nominee for Governor Jerry Kilgore has jumped on the issue as well. On one hand, I am glad to see it being taken seriously at the state level. On the other hand, talk is cheap, Mr Kilgore.

Gay Patriot asks the governor to step up on the issue:

DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY!! There is one already… it would be nice if you realized it and acted on this threat to our homeland security at the footsteps of our nation’s capital.

I'm not sure the illegal immigration warrants a state of emergency here in Virginia, but then again the governor and I live 100 miles south of Herndon, so we might not know how bad it is. I will await Mr Warner's comments.

Who is Project Hope and Harmony, anyway? I referred to it as a non-profit group, but it is actually an "umbrella group" of nfps. A positive profile of the group and its founder here, and a counterpoint of sorts here.