Advocates work both sides of debate over immigration

For those advocating immigrant rights in Virginia's General Assembly this year, bedrock principles of human dignity, basic liberties and the institutionalism of racism are at stake.

For those who say the state needs to do its part to stem the tide of illegal immigration, those arguments are just an attempt to change the subject.

And while Central Virginia may not be a hotbed of anti-illegal immigrant activity, several Charlottes-ville-based groups and lobbyists have sprung into action on the state level, arguing that lawmakers' proposals would be detrimental to the state as a whole.

"When we look at state-level legislation, it really doesn't matter so much that the climate is better in Charlottesville," said Jeff Winder, who started the social change group called The People United, which is focusing on the immigration issue.

"There is very much an immediate need for us to take action and stop some of this before that crisis can come to Charlottesville," Winder said.

Winder is organizing a yet-to-be announced umbrella group called the Virginia Immigrant People's Coalition, made up of advocates from across the state.

"Immigration is the civil rights movement of our time," he said. "We're looking at legalized racism."

Many of the bills lawmakers have introduced have been tried and discarded in years past. This year, though, immigrant advocates will be up against a slew of proposals - more than 100 pieces of legislation.

Those proposals range from laws to establish English as the official state language, where state agencies could only provide materials in English; to a bill that would require U.S. citizenship in order to obtain a driver's license; to a bill that would provide protection from deportation for illegal immigrants who provide information about crimes to police.

The state has changed and Virginians are starting to see the detrimental effects of illegal immigration - a good sign that Virginia's politicians will follow suit and deal with the issue, a prominent anti-illegal immigrant advocate said.

"At first, you see a bunch of foreigners in your town … and you don't think anything of it - this is America," said Greg Letiecq, who leads a new umbrella organization called Save the Old Dominion and is also the president of Help Save Manassas, a similar group. "We don't get all up in arms because someone looks or acts differently."

Things started to change, Letiecq said, as crime by illegal immigrants began to become more visible.

"What had been a minor thing that nobody was really thinking about now has become a very big deal," Letiecq said.

Some Northern Virginia localities have taken up the issue ahead of state legislators. Prince William County, perhaps the most prominent example, is looking at ways to deny county services to illegal immigrants and getting local law enforcement to check the residency status of anyone in custody who might be an illegal immigrant.

Prince William County Supervisor Corey A. Stewart has trumpeted the issue and encouraged other localities, including some in Central Virginia, to enact similar measures.

Charlottesville-area officials haven't been inclined to wage that battle. Police chiefs in Charlottesville and Albemarle County have said that their agencies lack the resources to take on such work, and leaders have said action is unnecessary, expensive and has negative consequences.

Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris said groups such as Creciendo Juntos, or Growing Together, have sprung up to identify the challenges and needs of immigrants, illegal or legal, particularly in the Latino community.

"[Proposals in the General Assembly] are driven by a fear of something that people don't understand and a fear for your own economic security," Norris said. "It's one of these wedge issues politicians use to … garner political support, and it's not the kind of politics we should encourage here in the commonwealth."

Norris said there are legitimate problems, such as school overcrowding, though their severity has not been felt as much in Central Virginia.

"We have much bigger challenges right now," he said.

Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, said he hasn't yet looked at much of the immigration legislation. He said that some proponents of past immigration legislation were defeated in November's election.

"With all the changes, it's hard to predict," Bell said of whether immigration bills that have failed in the past would have a better chance this session. He said, however, that the state should address the issue of the increasing number of illegal immigrants entering Virginia.

"We can't solve everything here in Richmond, but we certainly believe we can address parts of it," he said.

Tim Freilich, of the Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center's immigrant advocacy program, said he doesn't view the debate in terms of illegal versus legal immigrants. Many of the laws state legislators are considering will affect all immigrants, about 10 percent of Virginia's population, he says.

"Once you hear the stories and get to know Virginia's immigrants personally, it's hard to ignore the clear injustices going on throughout Virginia," Freilich said. "What makes our work challenging is the large, silent majority who need to start speaking up to defend principles of fairness and basic dignity for Virginians, including Virginia's immigrants."

Letiecq doesn't buy advocates' claims that proposals are anti-immigrant. He says most of them are ways to deal with illegal immigration where the U.S. Congress has failed to act.

"That pathetic pedantry is getting old, and folks are starting to figure out how disingenuous that stuff is," Letiecq said. "All of this is specifically and narrowly targeting illegal aliens."