Hispanic Day Laborers to Protest Va. Arrests

A second wave of arrests of Latino immigrants looking for jobs outside a convenience store is drawing attention to the treatment of immigrants and pressuring officials to find an alternative day laborer site. A town hall meeting Saturday is intended to address the issue and will include Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, R-Va., and several state and county officials. After the morning meeting, a group of day workers will meet to protest the arrests. Last month, 24 laborers were charged with loitering. Monday, three more were charged. Day laborer sites have caused debate in several jurisdictions undergoing rapid demographic change, such as Prince William Count (website -news) y, where Latinos have grown to 16 percent of the population from 9 percent in the past four years, according to county officials. Prince William's practice of arresting Hispanic workers who congregate in hopes of getting day jobs has been criticized as counterproductive by immigration advocates and officials from other jurisdictions. At a time when ethnic gang violence is becoming a growing law enforcement problem, police should be trying to build ties with the Latino  community, not sowing mistrust, these critics said. [more]

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