Arlington County Illegals - What in the world is going on? (Alexandria: neighborhood, subdivision)

[normie]

Originally Posted by bornindc

The boarding house issue in Fairfax IMO would've been an issue whether there were white, yellow, or green people living 15-20 to a house, parking in the lawn, taking up all the on-street parking and generally being bad neighbors.

Exactly. The house near us that was closed down was a bunch of 20-something white kids. It was fine by me to shut it down. Too many late night beer parties, trash on the lawn, too many cars.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by normie

Seriously? The best argument you've got is the boarding house thing? That was years ago and even at the time it wasn't that big of a deal. It got attention for a few months while they closed the houses down, that's about all. If the biggest example you can come up with is something that happened years ago, frankly, I think we're talking about a nonissue.

For those who are new to Nova, boarding house became a concern because there were too many cars in front of the houses, too many people in the houses, and too much petty crime connected with these houses. It was not a racial issue. Houses with too many unrelated residents were closed down, whether they had white people, black people, or whatever. They passed a law making it illegal to have more than 4 unrelated people living in a house and since that time it hasn't been much of a problem. College kids and 20-somethings tend to get upset about this law because they can't get together a group of 6-8 guys and rent a house anymore.

Untrue. Just this past fall the FBI broke up a ring that had engaged in $100 million worth of mortgage fraud to buy hundreds of houses in Fairfax County, many in Springfield, and turned them into illegal boarding houses, rented primarily to illegal immigrants. Talk to people who live in those neighborhoods; they will tell you that it definitely NOT a non-issue. In fact it took an uprising by Springfield residents against Gerry Connolly, who welcomed illegal immigrants from Prince William to Fairfax County, to get the county to pay attention. After the boarding houses are shut down, the law-abiding residents and police department still have to deal with the effects of abandoned, boarded-up, and blighted properties in their neighborhoods.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by bornindc

Obviously this is a hot-button issue that is easy to inflame opinions about.

Meh. For such a "hot button issue" notice this thread only got 665 views. That's a fair number, I guess, but it's about the same as the thread on where to find quark cheese (439 views). For comparison, the thread on Miralux mattresses at Sleepy's got 19, 250 views. The thread on where to rent 8-10 passenger vans in Fairfax got 15,576 views. The thread on how to get rid of snakes got 30,299 views. One about Bloom grocery stores got 14,887. Etc. Etc. Just sayin'.

I agree this is a topic that's easy to inflame opinions, that's why it's one of those topics that pops up in all the forums. But who cares when the ones getting inflamed are the same people who regularly get inflamed. Pick an issue, any issue. Some people out there are bored.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by normie

Seriously? The best argument you've got is the boarding house thing? That was years ago and even at the time it wasn't that big of a deal. It got attention for a few months while they closed the houses down, that's about all. If the biggest example you can come up with is something that happened years ago, frankly, I think we're talking about a nonissue.

I have many arguments against illegal immigration. This is just the most locally relevant one I could think of at our time. I just figured <other issues outside the DC metro> weren't exactly revelant to Northern VA.

How about that honor student and those old ladies in Mont. Co who were victims of crimes by illegals? Is that locally revelant? I don't care if they come to work or do other things, they have ZERO business here.

[Eugene Tahksin]

Something funny is going on. On College and grant apps. they classify Hispanics, Native Americans, Caucasians etc. separately. The majority of Hispanics in the DC area (except Dominicans, and other Islanders) are Native Americans with Spanish surnames from the Andean or Central American Cultures. However, all state., municipal and US Govt crime stats lump Hispanics together with Caucasians to skew the figures because they don't want Caucasians to be shocked by the true figures. If a home-grown local (black or white) is caught driving without a license he will be incarcerated. If a Latino is arrested for it he will get a big fine suspended down to a little fine. I serve papers for attorneys and things are WAY out of hand right now. Want to have fun? Wear a jacket with ICE printed on the back and lapel and walk into an emergency room and folks will exit like it is a fire drill!!! The roosters and chickens will be in a neighborhood near you real soon!

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by Econolodge-911

With the beautiful weather today, I decided to tour parts of Arlington country on bicycle, to include the areas surrounding Shirlington and the Four corners (?) area.

Coming from DC, I was in total culture shock, feeling at some points as though I had left the country and was now in Mexico or Central America.

I just have to ask - What in the world is going on in Arlington County?

I've only live in the District for a few years, and rarely travel into Virginia outside of the Crystal City/Alexandria area. Is this a recent phenomena? Has Arlington always been sanctuary city?

The most surreal experience of today was probably seeing the official county road sign which read "Pick Up Day Laborers Here".

Appreciate your input.

Most responses have focused on illegal immigration, and few on the demographics of Arlington and why it would feel like Mexico or Central America to the OP.

The OP conflates a thriving Hispanic population with the issue of illegal immigration. Were he or she to visit some other city's Little Italy or Russian section, would the immediate conclusion be that illegal immigration was rampant? Would the assumption be that the place was a sanctuary city?

Hispanics have lived in Arlington County in large numbers for decades, back when diversity in Springfield meant there was one black family in your subdivision.

So to one aspect of the question - is it a recent phenomenon to see many Hispanics in Arlington - absolutely not. You didn't see many in Crystal City? No surprise, that's historically been a work place for the government and supporting jobs, and dead after 5pm (only recently changing). Alexandria's Arlandria community is largely Hispanic, although it was mostly black (from what I remember) in the 1970s and 80s.

There were areas of large Hispanic populations in Arlington when I lived near Courthouse in the 1980s (mostly apartment dwellers), and south Arlington has long been heavily Hispanic, especially along Columbia Pike (which connects with Four Mile Run, where you saw the day laborer pickup spot).

It is true that there are certain to be illegal immigrants in the midst, but it's illogical to see a group of people looking for work and assume they are here illegally. Legal Hispanic immigrants often are of working class with few professional skills, and manual labor is what they can do.

I think Arlington has been a sanctuary for illegal Hispanic immigrants primarily because of the long history of a Hispanic presence - they aren't seen as a threatening outsider group, unlike places like Prince William, where the whites were bewildered by the influx of people with a different language and different customs. Also, Walter Tejada, on the Arlington County board, has frequently pushed back against any government (Virginia's or Federal) requirements that could be detrimental to illegal immigrants.

It's one thing to have a debate about illegal immigrants in a community, but to look upon a large population of Hispanics and wonder if you're still in the USA? What's wrong with lots of Hispanics living in Arlington (or elsewhere)?

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

It's one thing to have a debate about illegal immigrants in a community, but to look upon a large population of Hispanics and wonder if you're still in the USA? What's wrong with lots of Hispanics living in Arlington (or elsewhere)?

As I've said before, anyone who moved here from a place that has a nearly non-existent or very small Hispanic population (i.e. Hampton Roads) is going to be shocked to encounter the sheer number of Hispanics here. I can't really blame folks for feeling like that.

[duckz]

<- This white arlingtonian is thankful for the large legal hispanic population, its given us saltenas, peruvian chicken, and most importantly a beautiful wifey

[coolio69]

Originally Posted by mississippimagnolia

I don't see why folks can't debate an issue without attacking each other. Fact: There are a lot of illegals in this area. That's not open to debate. We know there are people living and working in Fairfax who are not doing so legally.

I think the bigger issues is: Why do we have laws on the books regarding illegal immigration if we aren't going to enforce them? I guess we have two choices. (1) Change the laws to allow more liberal entry into the country or (2) Enforce the laws we already have and require people who want to live and work in America to do so legally.

There are a lot of laws that are on the books that are selectively enforced. For example, jaywalking laws, sodomy laws, undeclared income laws and others. Now, in terms of immigration, I would say that the laws are ineffective in curbing the immigration flow into this country. If you really wanted to cut the flow of people coming in, I would say you give jail time to people/businesses that hire the undocumented.

Originally Posted by mississippimagnolia

In my opinion, it is more critical today than it ever has been in the history of our country for us to know who is coming in and leaving from our country. Since 2007, 9,900 people have been killed in drug related violence in Mexico. Think about that number. That's almost 10,000 people dead in a war right on our border. And it's already started to spread into our country. Since 2004, over 200 Americans have been killed as a direct result of the drug war in Mexico. We are seeing an increase in kidnappings and home invasions in our country as a result of the war going on right on our border.

The violence in Mexico has to do with the shift in control of the drug trade from South American countries (Columbia) to Mexico. There has simply been a group of families that are fighting for the profits from that. One thing that hasn't changed is the constant demand for such drugs from Americans. If you really wanted to impact the drug trade, there needs to be some emphasis on the demand side. You can't blame Mexico for all the deaths where Americans here are contributing to the violence by their insatiable demand for drugs.

Originally Posted by mississippimagnolia

Many immigrants, both legal and illegal, come to the U.S. to escape exactly that kind of life. They want better for themselves and for their children. Unfortunetly,not all come to our country for that "better life". We absolutely must find a way to track who comes into our country and why. The problem with illegal immigration is that it prevents us from doing exactly that.

The problem isn't that people dislike diversity. I think most people would just like to see the government enforce immigration laws. If you want to come into the United States, great! But do so legally.

I think a lot of this is driven by folks who dislike people that don't look "white". I don't see Montana or N. Dakota enacting Arizona type laws to curb the influx of "illegal" Canadians storming across this country. If I were a smart terrorist, I would certainly consider coming into this country from the North rather than the SW border.

[FindingZen]

Please...this thread must stay specific to Northern Virginia or it will be either moved to the Illegal Immigration sub-forum or closed.