Anti-Immigrant Backlash Continues
The Washington Post has a story today about fearful Latinos in Prince William Co., VA who are scared to even leave their homes to go to the doctors for fear of harassment by police.
Radio stations and hotlines are fielding calls from immigrants asking whether it is safe to drive cars or visit public parks. Lawyers are advising parents to make emergency plans for their children and assets in case they are detained on suspicion of being in the country illegally. Volunteers are organizing meetings, and one woman, a U.S. citizen from El Salvador, has decided to launch a write-in candidacy for the Board of County Supervisors.
“I feel as if my own community is slamming the door in my face. Someone has to stand up and do something,” said Araceli Paname¿o, 42, a longtime Woodbridge resident who took a leave of absence from her job in Washington last Thursday to explore the possibility of running in the election next month.
“I could sell my house and say I am fed up, but this county is my home,” she said. “I want to stay and try to change the environment.”
Ten miles away, Mirabel Martinez, 25, sat on her doorstep last Thursday afternoon, phoning a list of volunteers to plan a strategy meeting at a taco restaurant. She, too, is a legal immigrant and homeowner from El Salvador who lives in a quiet county neighborhood. She, too, said she had felt a new sting of hostility, even from a local church, which demanded proof of residency when she went to pick up donated food for a needy friend.
“I showed them my voter registration card, and they said it was not enough,” Martinez said. “I am here legally. But I have a lot of relatives and friends who are still illegal, and I can imagine how scared they are. I want to tell them to not be afraid and try to live normally, but to be careful and not do things like drive with false licenses. We can’t be defeatist. We have to stay and fight.”
