A powerful pro-immigration message scrawled across a giant billboard in one Manassas yard has been taken down, but its owners say they plan on putting an even bigger one up in its place. 

The 12-by-40-foot homemade sign was built on Guadencio Fernandez's property in a residential area more than a year ago to protest what he called "racist" policies that target illegal immigrants.

The sign declared Prince William County (web|news) and Manassas the "National Capital of Intolerance." A rambling indictment likened the treatment of illegal immigrants to slavery and Jim Crow laws. "We will not be your slaves of the 21st century," the sign concludes.

On Thursday night, friends and supporters gathered to help Fernandez take it down.  He had an extra incentive to take down the billboard--he was supposed to be in court today facing charges of city building code violations, so taking the sign down made those charges moot.

The 48-year-old Manassas contractor who moved to the United States from Mexico in 1979 spoke with ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 reporter Emily Schmidt.

Fernandez said he plans to apply for a permit that would allow him to build a 200 foot long sign--five times longer than the old one, and he believes there is no city law that will get in the way.

"We are preparing all the documents for a special use permit," said Fernandez. "We're going to follow the rules, and we have trust in justice." 

Supporters have called the billboard "the liberty wall" for its location on Liberty Street. They said the city has worked to silence Fernandez's political views. The sign was created on a wall left from a home Fernandez owned that was destroyed by fire in 2006.

Other residents have complained they were offended by the billboard's evocations of slavery and genocide.

Manassas city officials have cited Fernandez several times for failing to obtain a proper permit for the sign. They also accused him of allowing garbage, rodents and snakes to make the site an eyesore.

"One of the things we hold dear in this country is freedom of speech," said Mayor Harry J. "Hal" Parrish II, a Republican. "He's had a great opportunity to take advantage of that freedom. But I suspect not many people ... would look at a big billboard next to their home as a positive thing, regardless of what it said."

The City of Manassas said in court Friday that as long as the lot is cleared by tonight, all charges will be dropped. But the family that owns the billboard says it may not be the last the city hears from them.

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