They’ve been planning it for awhile and while the state of Virginia rejected a controversial proposal to create the country’s first state-run facility where illegal immigrants arrested for certain crimes could be held while awaiting trial or until federal officials deport them, Prince William County‘s supervisors unanimously voted yesterday to move forward with a plan to deny certain county services to illegal immigrants and to direct the police to enforce immigration laws.

Activists in the area had launched numerous campaigns against the measure but now they are reporting that immigrants are planning to sell off whatever they own and move out of the officially anti-immigrant county.

And while the State isn’t willing to put up funds for immigrant detentions, it’s willing to back up localities within the state so that they can detain immigrants. According to the New York Times:

The state panel, while rejecting the proposal to create the separate facility to hold illegal immigrants, instead recommended that the state provide additional money so local officials could build more jail space to house immigrants awaiting deportation. It also called on local jail officials to check the immigration status of all inmates and deny bail to most illegal immigrants who committed crimes.

Via / The New York Times and Univision