$42 million to help Local Jails Report Undocumented Immigrants

"We'd like to detain everyone. But that is a fantasy world," James Prendergraph, Director of ICE's partnerships with state and local agencies.

Virginia Jail to Report Foreign Inmates
By Bill Brubaker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 28, 2008; Page A01

A year after Prince William County launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants, Virginia has implemented a law that requires something similar for every jurisdiction in the state. Jail officials are now required to notify federal authorities of all foreign-born inmates regardless of their immigration status.

The little-noticed law went into effect July 1 and aims to make every corner of the state as unwelcoming as Prince William for illegal immigrants charged with crimes.

"With our new law, these people who are here illegally should be afraid of living anywhere in Virginia right now," said Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax), who helped write the law and chairs the state's crime commission. "If you're here illegally, it's not any scarier to live in Prince William than in any other county."

Prince William and about 60 other jurisdictions nationwide had previously joined in a separate partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to identify immigrants who have committed crimes. But now, under the Virginia law, officials across the state have begun routinely filing similar reports to the same federal authorities that Prince William does. Under the state law, local jails probably will spend a fraction of the $10.5 million Prince Willliam has budgeted over the next five years for the ICE partnership.

ICE cannot say how many illegal immigrants from a particular jurisdiction are being deported, only that it cannot remove as many as it would like because of budget limitations. So there are no statistics about what ultimately happens to the illegal immigrants who are reported to ICE -- either by way of the new state law or through the federal program, which trains local officers to identify and detain undocumented suspects charged with crimes.
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ICE has $42 million for the partnership program this year, but officials at the agency say they need a lot more money to do the job. "We'd like to detain everyone. But that is a fantasy world," said James Pendergraph, who oversees ICE's partnerships with state and local agencies.

Together, the federal program and the state law, passed in the aftermath of Congress's failure last summer to reform the immigration system, underscore how dissimilar enforcement policies are in the Washington region.

While Virginia jails have begun expediting reports to ICE on their foreign-born inmates, even if there is no evidence that they are undocumented, the Montgomery County jail sends federal authorities a weekly list of its immigrant inmates...

for link to complete WP article, click here

Get Latino votes but deport their cousins

It is ironic that Clinton and Obama would be campaigning heavily in the Washington area Latino community - especially in northern Virginia.

The hatred for immigrants in Prince William County Virginia is deadly. Yet what the (supposedly) educated politicians don't seem to realize is that many Latino families are "mixed" - meaning there often is someone in the family who has recently immigrated. Many voting Latinos are closely related to the undocumented Latinos.

The voters Clinton and Obama are targeting may be so fed up with the political process that they won't vote. Or, they will organize the community - and find people who haven't voted in years so their candidate can have a strong win at the polls.

Clinton should have thought of this when she negated driver's licenses for undocumented people. If people take a close look, they may see that she speaks from both sides of her mouth -

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Clinton, Obama Target Latinos, Northern Virginia

By Sylvia Moreno, Steve Hendrix and Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, February 10, 2008; C06

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are aggressively targeting Latino and immigrant voters in the Washington area, especially Northern Virginia, for Tuesday's Potomac Primary, as the region's foreign-born communities have grown so rapidly that their ballots could be decisive in a close electoral contest.

The two have brought their historic battle to the region, with Clinton determined to reap the benefits of her long-term popularity among Latino voters and Obama fighting to chip away at that support.

Clinton campaign workers will canvass Spanish-language church services in Northern Virginia today, and the candidate is scheduled to appear in Manassas. Tomorrow night, the campaign is sponsoring a "Latinos for Clinton" rally in Falls Church.

Among Obama's stops in Virginia today will be a town hall meeting at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria. In addition to Obama's appearances in Maryland tomorrow, campaign volunteers are speaking at church services today, going door-to-door in Alexandria and Silver Spring. They are organizing phone banks in Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese languages in the District, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City this weekend. All the calls will target Virginia voters.

"Every single one of those votes will count," said Annabel Park, 39, a Silver Spring filmmaker and Obama phone bank organizer. "The impact the Latino vote had in California should be the signal to them that it can happen here as well."

Clinton communications director Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli said Super Tuesday wins and strong national support from Latinos don't mean that the campaign isn't "going to fight for" Hispanic votes in the Washington area primaries.

The Obama campaign is certainly on its heels, hoping to find a generational crack in Clinton's usual rock-solid support among Hispanic voters, which runs as high as 65 percent nationally and provided her margin of victory in California on Super Tuesday.

Hispanic voters in the area are a fraction of the huge Latino blocs in California, Nevada, Florida and New York. In the District, 4 percent of voters are Hispanic; 3 percent of voters in Maryland and Virginia are Latino.

The Latino vote here skews young. In Virginia and Maryland, almost a third of Latino voters are 18 to 29; overall in the nation, 21 percent of Latino voters are in that age bracket. In the District, younger Latinos account for 36 percent of Hispanic voters, according to the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington.

Because the election boards in the District, Maryland and Virginia do not include ethnicity on registration applications, tracking Latino voting habits is difficult. Only once have Latinos made up more than 3 or 4 percent of the electorate in any area jurisdiction. In the 2004 general election, Hispanics accounted for 7 percent of the vote in Northern Virginia, according to exit poll data.

But election officials know that the Latino vote in Maryland is heavily concentrated in the D.C. suburbs.

No matter the population size, however, Latino voters throughout the region are learning what it's like to be coveted in a fiercely contested political race.

The D.C. Latino Political Action Committee, a 300-member group created a few years ago, had three candidate surrogates -- two for Clinton, one for Obama -- at its endorsement meeting Friday night.

"When they want to come talk to a small group like ours, that shows me how important the Latino vote is and how important every vote is," said committee co-founder Ted Loza. His group endorsed Obama.

The week before, Obama supporters swept through the heavily populated Latino neighborhoods of Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights in a caravan with a live salsa band performing from the back of a truck and distributed bilingual campaign materials.

Temo Figueroa, the national Hispanic field director for the Obama campaign, said no group of voters is insignificant in such a tight race for the presidential nomination. "For Barack Obama to win, he has to get these communities that are considered small," he said.

Clinton's campaign efforts among Hispanics generally began a year ago and specifically in the Washington area in September, organizers said.

"This campaign has been very aware of the importance of the Latino vote, and Hillary Clinton herself has had a long relationship with the Latino community dating back 35 years, when she was in south Texas registering voters," Rodriguez-Ciampoli said.

Friday's editions of three major Spanish-language newspapers contained full-page ads from the Clinton campaign declaring "Con Hillary, Nuestras Familias Tendr¿n una Vida Mejor" ("With Hillary, Our Families Will Have a Better Life"). Clinton was endorsed by El Comercio, a Manassas-based paper, and her campaign started ads on Spanish-language radio Friday.

Catherine M. Pino and Ingrid M. Duran, who run a small consulting company from their Falls Church home and were making calls to voters, said they had been hoping for years that Clinton would run. "She has not taken us for granted. . . . The fact that she had a Hispanic outreach team in place from Day One speaks volumes," said Duran, 42.

In Maryland, the Obama campaign is working with the Service Employees International Union on a phone bank to reach Latinos, said Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA of Maryland and an Obama state coordinator.

Two local Maryland elected officials were scheduled to speak today at churches in Montgomery and Prince George's counties for Obama. Of Obama's three scheduled appearances in Maryland tomorrow, one is to be at a Latino restaurant in Montgomery with Hispanic officials and activists "for him to discuss his real-life experience with the community," said Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D), a co-chairman of the state Obama campaign.

"We want to highlight his appeal in the Latino community, because we think there's a lot of room to grow there," Gansler said.

Eduardo Lopez, producer of "Linea Directa," a weekly Spanish-language public affairs TV show that has been on the air for 18 years, agreed.

"This presidential election is very important to the Latino community in the Washington metropolitan area because it's part of the maturation process we've seen in our community in the last 10 years," he said. "We now have elected Latino officials in important posts. And these elections will definitely change the course we've seen in the last few years of an increasingly negative tone not only against immigrants but Latinos in particular."

Although Clinton won two-thirds of the Hispanic vote in California and 73 percent of Latinos in New York on Super Tuesday, there were signs that Obama has made inroads, with near-even showings among Hispanics in Connecticut, Arizona and Illinois.

"What's new is that we're looking at sharper variations in Latino support than we were earlier in the process," said Luis Clemmens, editor of CandidatoUSA. "It's an uphill climb, but in some places he has . . . managed to narrow the gap."

There was evidence of that divide last week when Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery), Maryland's first Latino elected official and a Clinton supporter, was preparing an endorsement letter, adding the names of other Hispanic officials, only to run into a mini-rebellion.

"Ana Sol Gutierrez is sort of the grand dame of Latino elected officials here," said Montgomery Board of Education President Nancy Navarro, the only other signer. "The younger generation is not as predictable."

Indeed, Dels. Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk and Victor R. Ramirez of Prince George's and Edmonston Mayor Adam Ortiz went public as founding members of "Maryland Latinos for Obama."

Learning a Second Language

How many average Americans who are not immigrants, know a second language? Even with language courses in high school, people seldom become fluent unless they take a trip abroad (or at least to Mexico). The article below is about a bill proposed in the Virginia legislature that will make it difficult if not impossible to get a job if a person doesn't speak English

A Houston construction company that has mostly immigrant workers has hired a Spanish teacher. The owners of the company want to be able to communicate better, as do the company supervisors.

Of course, this solution makes some people angry. Why would Americans accommodate to Spanish speaking employees?

1. Maybe because the management of the company has disposable income to pay for Spanish classes?

2. The managers believe that easier communication with their employees will make the company more efficient consequently creating more profit.

3. Or, the managers want to know what their workers are saying about them.

People in many countries of the world learn English so they can communicate with us when we visit them. Why can't we do the same for foreigners in the U.S.?

Recently when I spent a few weeks in Madrid doing research I found almost everyone I met spoke English. At the internet cafe I visited daily there was a young man who was South Asian. Although he was fluent in Spanish, we spoke only English. He wanted to practice. Why would he want to learn English? Last I heard, English is not the official language of Spain- and after a number of long conversations I never heard him say he wanted to immigrate to the U.S. He wanted to be able to speak to all kinds of people.

As for immigrants learning English, of course its necessary for survival. There may be complaints that immigrants can't speak English or are not learning fast enough, but the reality is, most if not all immigrants know a certain amount of English, and if they could, they would take classes. (see post "English as a Tool of Power," January 9, 2008). Anyone who expects new immigrants to speak English automatically should visit some of the rural primarias and secundarias in Mexico - especially the ones in rich neighborhoods. Getting an education is difficult in Mexico, but learning English is a luxury for the rich (or at least middle class).

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Bill Targets Workers Who Speak No English

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 17, 2008; B01

RICHMOND, Jan. 16 -- A Republican state senator from Fairfax County has introduced a proposal that would allow a boss to fire employees who don't speak English in the workplace, which would make them ineligible for unemployment benefits.

Sen. Ken Cuccinelli II said the law is needed because a growing number of employers in Northern Virginia are frustrated that some immigrants never learn English, although they said they would when they were hired.

"The point here isn't to be mean; the point is to allow circumstances to give employers their own ability to hire and fire people who may not speak English," Cuccinelli said.

Some Democrats and immigration rights activists said they were outraged at Cuccinelli, saying the bill demeans the 1 in 10 Virginians who were born outside the United States. They said Cuccinelli's proposal was aimed at new legal residents who aren't native English speakers. Illegal immigrants are already ineligible for unemployment benefits.

"This is the most mean-spirited piece of legislation I have seen in my 30 years down here," Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) said.

Cuccinelli's bill is one of dozens this year that seek to address immigration and the growing influence of Hispanic culture in Virginia, including efforts to make English the state's official language.

Cuccinelli, who was narrowly reelected in November, said the bill is aimed at people who work in jobs in which they must interact with the public, such as sales clerks and receptionists.

State and national immigrant rights activists said the bill, as written, could result in some people being fired for speaking to a colleague during a break or over the phone to relatives in a language other than English, causing some critics to wonder whether the measure violates federal law prohibiting discrimination based on national origin.

"Anyone who cares about employee rights and civil rights and any employer who cares about not getting sued should question this bill," said Raul Gonzales, legislative director of the National Council of La Raza, Latino civil rights group in Washington.

Cuccinelli, who says companies are increasingly hiring people without face-to-face interviews, said he is just trying to protect employers from paying higher taxes because of unemployment claims.

In Virginia, employers may fire anyone as long as they adhere to civil rights laws. But if someone receives unemployment benefits, their previous employer might have to pay higher taxes.

"It works like an insurance policy," said Coleman Walsh, chief administrative law judge for the Virginia Employment Commission. "If you don't have any accidents, your premiums don't go up. If you have accidents, you have to pay higher rates."

Cuccinelli said he drafted the bill after a business owner approached him last year and complained that his unemployment taxes rose after he fired someone who didn't learn English.

"They had an understanding the employee would improve their English capabilities, and that didn't happen," Cuccinelli said. "We are an at-will employment state, but there is a question about having to pay more unemployment insurance."

Terminated employees are ineligible for unemployment benefits if they fail a drug test, falsify a job application with respect to a criminal record, commit an act that causes the employer to lose his business license or miss too many days of work. A claim can also be denied if the employee violates a "reasonable company law" and has "a pattern of misconduct that shows a willful disregard for an employer's legitimate business interest," Walsh said.

Gonzales said Cuccinelli's bill is not needed because Equal Opportunity Commission guidelines give employers the right to terminate employees for their language skills if their jobs require extensive interaction with the public or a need to understand basic safety information...

for complete article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/16/AR2008011603720.html

The Bullies in Prince William County

Was this Chris Royse as a child?






The attempt to get votes is turning into a messy, vulger brawl in Virginia. An editorial in the Washington Post tells us:

"Chris A. Royse, a candidate for supervisor in Prince William, who suggests that county residents would beat up any Mexican officials who might come to inquire about the well-being of immigrants in the county"

The WP suggests that voters pressure the federal govt. into passing comprehensive immigration reform. Unfortunately, as long as lawmakers cave in to the people who send those 1,000 emails and faxes per day - they really are not representing the voters. Maybe those who sent the 1,000 are only 10 people working for the Minute Men?

The GOP is going to need a lot more than a Hail Mary once American society realizes what the Republicans are doing. Hate doesn't bring anything positive.



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Virginia Votes
And the GOP throws a Hail Mary on illegal immigration.
Washington Post
Sunday, November 4, 2007; B06

ANXIOUS ABOUT an unpopular president and an electorate trending Democratic, Northern Virginia Republicans devised a Hail Mary strategy in the summer in hopes of averting an electoral rout. In races for state and local offices this fall, they would focus relentlessly on illegal immigration, a festering problem that the federal government has failed to address. And they would do so with little regard for the real-world constraints of state and local officials to address a problem of national scope.

The result has been an unsightly, dispiriting campaign in which GOP candidates, with a few exceptions, have competed -- with Democrats and with each other -- to appear tougher, rougher, meaner and more testosterone-fueled on the subject of illegal immigrants.

The rhetorical excess has gone beyond the now commonplace demand that state universities be purged of illegal immigrants -- this, despite a paucity of evidence that many or any are enrolled. Now there is state Del. Jeffrey Frederick of Prince William County, who proposes to deny all state aid to any locality that would provide services to undocumented aliens. There is Chris A. Royse, a candidate for supervisor in Prince William, who suggests that county residents would beat up any Mexican officials who might come to inquire about the well-being of immigrants in the county. And there is Faisal M. Gill, a candidate for delegate in Prince William, who would embrace a zero-tolerance policy for illegal immigrants; never mind that the law firm in which he is a name partner solicits business from clients facing deportation.

These candidates and others who are talking about the problem more responsibly are not inventing an issue from whole cloth. Many of them seek to represent constituents legitimately worried that boardinghouses, unkempt lawns, impromptu day-labor gatherings and crime pose a threat to their neighborhoods, schools and property values. Many of them are understandably offended by lawbreaking and the federal government's failure to enforce its laws. But on a local level, the right way -- and the effective way -- to tackle those problems is by tightening laws and beefing up code enforcement. It is not by preening and posturing and by pretending that local government has the wherewithal to initiate the deportation of every illegal immigrant arrested for littering; it doesn't.

In the course of this ugly crusade, many Republicans have tended to downplay the tough issues that they might really be able to do something about over time, including the shape and pace of growth; improvements for the region's sclerotic transportation network; and a deteriorating fiscal situation that calls for workable ideas. The campaign based on illegal immigration is the kind of trick that works, if it works at all, just once. Voters who don't already know will find out soon enough that there is a limit to what state and local officials can do about illegal immigration and that the best and only way to deal with the problem in a serious way is to force federal officials to tackle it comprehensively. Once that dawns on the electorate, and particularly on Northern Virginia Republicans, then perhaps they will get back to talking about problems within their power to resolve.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110300889_pf.html

cartoon: http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/directory/b/bully.asp

Countering Anti-Immigration With TV ADS

What can be done in this rabid anti-immigrant environment? It has been relatively easy to report on people being detained, laws being enacted, and the U.S. Senate bickering. However, its been near impossible to write about how to respond to this dilemma. The protests helped initially, but once the anti-immigrant side organized itself, there was no stopping the negative avalanche.

Now for a change, there is a group countering the new anti-immigrant measures...with PR - the Ayuda Business Coalition is making a statement with its new ads regarding immigration to be aired on CNN.

Hopefully this is just the beginning.

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Immigration Ad to Air This Weekend
Latino Group's Counterpoint Precedes Virginia Election
By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 3, 2007; D01

A regional group of Latino business leaders is launching a television advertising campaign this weekend in hopes of countering anti-illegal-immigrant measures they fear will spread throughout Virginia.

The centerpiece is an ad that claims to show what happened when Riverside, N.J., passed a resolution penalizing employers who had hired illegal immigrants. Images of empty buildings and signs of shop liquidations and closures flash across the screen. The ad explains that Riverside rescinded its measure one year later.

"The moral: Virginia, let's be careful what we wish for," a narrator warns.

The ads are scheduled to air throughout Virginia on CNN several times over the weekend and on Tuesday, when the state is scheduled to hold elections.

In buying the commercial time, the business group, Ayuda Business Coalition, is taking a decidedly different approach in its fight against recent crackdowns on illegal immigrants than other groups, which have organized work boycotts and demonstrations.

"We want to do this in an organized way that doesn't expose us to look like we aren't respectable or disciplined," said Mariano Claudio, a coalition member.

Coalition members fear the recent passage of an anti-illegal-immigration resolution in Prince William County has created momentum for state legislators to introduce similar measures in the General Assembly when it convenes in January. Prince William lawmakers limited some social services to illegal immigrants and stepped up enforcement efforts against those who have been convicted of crimes.

"Some call what happened in Prince William a success. Our longer-term goal is to start building effective arguments for what we know is a fight coming in Richmond," said Mauricio Vivero, executive director of District-based immigrant advocacy group Ayuda, which is running the project.

The Ayuda Business Coalition encompasses about 100 business leaders and includes the head of the Salvadoran American Chamber of Commerce and Carlos Castro, the owner of Todos Market. The group said it has raised $100,000 for lobbying and media advertising. Sosa and Associates, a Latino-owned public relations firm, produced the TV commercial for free...


for complete article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201891_pf.html

The Klan Returns to Manassas

Its Post-Reconstruction Time in Virginia

What is it about Prince William County that is creating such hatred - enough to bring in the Klan? People say they are against the KKK, but we'll see who really means it.

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Klan Leaflets Denounced in Manassas
Members of Both Sides of Debate Reject Appeal to 'White Christian America'
By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 6, 2007; Page B02


Dozens of Ku Klux Klan leaflets calling for a ban on "all non-white immigration" were distributed last weekend in Manassas, where a dispute over illegal immigration has raised tensions in recent weeks.

The leaflets, dropped at night into mailboxes and on driveways along one street, urged "white Christian America" to stand up for its rights. Smatterings of racist literature are distributed in communities throughout the region every few weeks, but this incident struck a raw nerve in Manassas.

Klan officials, who are based in Arkansas, said yesterday that Virginia residents had asked them for Klan literature to deliver in Manassas.

...The leaflets contain a brief history of the Klan, tell how to contact and join the group, and urge "white Christian Americans" to unite in defense against a variety of issues, including drugs, gang violence and pornography. They also opposed immigration by Mexicans and other "non-white" groups, who they said seek to "take over" the country.

Police said no problems or incidents were reported in connection with the leafleting, and no arrests were made.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/05/AR2007090502272.html

Its the Low Wages that Create Crowded Apartments

If the Minute Men types would just think a little about the recent compaints about immigrants and crowded housing. Its the low wages that force people to live several to a home. Do the complainer types think people do this by choice?

Each wave of immigration (legal or not) has brought crowded housing with it... think of New York in the early 20th century.

Again as I've repeated a number of times... think of how one thing provokes another...

We want a low wage work force
People come to work at low wages
They can't afford the housing so they double, triple up
Communities complain and outlaw crowded housing
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PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY
McMansions Turn 'McApartments,' Stirring Ire
By Ovetta Wiggins
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 4, 2007; Page B02


The new house on Allison Street in North Brentwood is two stories higher than the older homes that surround it. It doesn't have a porch, shutters or any of the other distinguishing features found on the century-old bungalows on the block.

"It's out of character for the town," said Mayor Petrella A. Robinson, who lives across the street, with a dog on her front porch.

... in North Brentwood and other small municipalities in northern Prince George's County, mansionization comes with a twist: Some of the new homes, neighbors and town leaders say, are being used as boardinghouses for several families or unrelated people. Some are college students from the University of Maryland. Others appear to be immigrants.

"Our concern with these McMansions is they are not single-family homes," LaVerne Williams of Lewisdale told a group of county planners and elected officials in Riverdale. "You are turning our communities into rooming communities."

Williams, 81, is leading a campaign to protect her neighborhood and beyond. She walked into the recent meeting with a cane in one hand and a fistful of pictures of oversize houses in the other.

"I'm a law-abiding citizen," she said. "You have to do something about this."

Prince George's planners have launched a study of mansionization, spurred not just by neighborhood complaints but also by pressure from state lawmakers.

Last year, state delegates proposed legislation that would have given 11 Prince George's towns and small cities control over zoning, a power now reserved for the county -- except in the city of Laurel.

The bill died in committee, but not for lack of local support. Del. Barbara A. Frush, a Beltsville Democrat, said she understands the plight of neighbors, feeling helpless while their community is altered.

"They make these things into not a McMansion but a McApartment building," Frush said.
..."We've had a number of communities that have expressed concern," said Samuel Parker Jr., chairman of the Planning Board. "And we know the issue in Prince George's is a little different" from those of neighboring counties.

County law declares that no more than five people unrelated by blood or marriage can live in a single-family house. But enforcement has been lax, said Bob Schnabel of College Park.

...In 2005, Manassas caused an uproar when it restricted single-family homes to immediate relatives, even if the number of occupants was below the legal limit. The law was meant to address problems associated with crowded housing and illegal immigration. But officials repealed the law after civil rights leaders complained.

Kristie M. Mills, city administrator for Laurel, said her city's new code was not based on ethnicity but fire safety. Under the ordinance, each house is limited to a certain number of occupants, based on the number and square footage of bedrooms.

"We had inspectors who were finding houses were being redeveloped, they were adding rooms without permits," Mills said. "One instance, the inspector found sprinklers covered up. It's boiled down to a life-saving issue."

..In a walk through Langley Park, she pointed to several houses that tower over the bungalows. One had several cars parked around it. Another, under construction, had several entrances, suggesting that more than one family could eventually live there.

At another, Mirna Segovia answered the door and explained that she and her husband expanded their Keokee Street home two years ago simply to make room for their five children.

"It was too small," she said.



Staff writer Virgil Dickson contributed to this report.
for complete article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090301114.html

Virginia Human Rights - Hotlines

Fairfax County Human Rights Commission 703-324-2953
Arlington County Human Rights Commission 703-228-3929
Prince William County Human Rights Commission 703-792-4680

http://www.ci.alexandria.va.us/human/alex-faq.html