Prince William County supervisors have shown just how serious they are about combating illegal immigration.

Facing a $51 million shortfall in its budget, supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to spend almost $800,000 from the county’s reserve fund to staff and equip a six-member police team the county formed to apprehend and process illegal immigrants. That leaves them with $3,000 in the fund, which typically is allotted in the budget to make up for shortfalls or match grants.

The Washington Post covered the meeting, reporting that the use of the reserve fund to start a new program is unusual for the county.

Illegal immigration has become a hot-button issue in Virginia in the past year, where localities are looking for ways to restrict county services to illegal immigrants and state legislators have considered more than 100 bills on the issue.

Prince William has been on top of the issue, creating a $14 million, five-year plan for a police task force to check the immigration status of residents suspected of breaking the law. The county also restricts the county services it legally can from illegal residents.