VA Terror Law Used to Round Up and Deport Latino Laborers hanging out at 7-11

The arrest of 24 Latino day laborers looking for work outside a 7-Eleven in Woodbridge was intended as a crackdown on loitering, Prince William County police say. The charge, they noted, carries only a $100 fine. But the penalty for many ended up being more severe: Eleven of the workers could not prove their identity and were transferred to federal custody. They have been put in an adult detention center in Manassas and face deportation. Immigration advocates and officials from other jurisdictions say the mass roundup last week is fracturing the fragile trust between local law enforcement agencies and immigrants. The incident may discourage immigrants from reporting crimes or working with detectives, they said, at a time when millions of dollars are being spent to combat a growing gang problem. "This is exactly what immigrants were afraid of -- a bunch of Latinos hanging out and the police come by and pick them up and refer them" to federal immigration agents, said Tim Freilich, managing attorney of the Virginia Justice Center. "From a policy standpoint, the arrests don't make any sense. It's not going to solve the issue of day laborers in Woodbridge. . . . It's just going to frighten the immigrant community." The arrests came about three months after a new Virginia law gave state and local police the authority to arrest illegal immigrants without a warrant. The law, which targeted possible terrorists, was intended to be limited in scope and could be applied only if the immigrant had been convicted of a felony, had been ordered out of the country and was suspected of committing another crime. [more]

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