Border War Even In Upscale Smalltown

Herndon Approves Day Labor Center: [Washington Post]

"We want a secure site, because our lives are in danger when the contractors leave us on the road,' Eric Arauz said through an interpreter. 'We are honest workers, not criminals, like they say."

The contentious vote in Herndon over whether to build a site for day-laborers passed 5-2 in what was considered to be the closest and toughest to decide issue for this town of 22,000, where foreign born residents now make up 38%. A similiar issue faced other Fairfax county locales in the past which also decided to build day-laborer sites.

Sterling, of Loudoun County, which borders the proposed site, also weighed in recently on the debate. Opponents argued that using tax dollars for construction amounted to supporting illegal immigration because many of the undocumented workers are in the country illegally. With an upcoming gubernatorial race, Republicans were also trying to paint supporters as "soft on crime", in an ill-conceived move they tried to distance themselves from later. Supporters chose to view local issues of public safety and human rights as their primary task and not the problem of immigration, which is a federal issue.

• Read my Wrong Label for Laborers, Letter to the Editor in the Washington Post about this topic.
• More from KaineforGovernor's Diary on DailyKos