Immigration's Impact Is On the Minds Of Va. Voters

Across the nation, "it's definitely not a red-blue issue," Suro said.

Things are different in Virginia, which will have its gubernatorial election Nov. 8. Although Democratic Gov. Mark R. Warner this year signed a bill that bars illegal immigrants from receiving certain public benefits, including Medicaid and public assistance, the movers on the issue in the commonwealth are Republican, led by Kilgore.

The former attorney general's opponents have denounced him for getting involved in the Herndon fight. Town leaders this summer found themselves caught in a months-long debate about that issue, with residents fiercely divided over whether such a center rewarded illegal immigrants or simply recognized the reality that the workers are integral to the region's booming economy and that it would be better gathering them in one place than on street corners or in front of convenience stores.

State Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr. (R-Winchester), who is running for governor as an independent, called Kilgore's actions "the worst form of pandering." Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, the Democratic candidate, said Kilgore is trying to find a wedge issue in what was an attempt by local officials to solve a difficult problem. "I think that's kind of slimy," he said Thursday.

Despite polls that show high voter unhappiness with illegal immigration, political experts say candidates must be careful, for fear of overplaying the issue or risking being called racist. Kirkorian, who said he would like to see the issue debated more, said Americans want "sober and intelligent" discussion on the issue and will be turned off by a "red face behind a lectern."

Kilgore can point to being consistent for years in his approach to the issue, championing legislation that would deny illegal immigrants in-state tuition, driver's licenses and government identification cards and any employment assistance. On his Web site, a release from the campaign says Virginia is facing "an illegal immigration crisis," though he doesn't go that far in campaign speeches. And he blames illegal immigration for another problem that the Post poll shows is very much in voters' minds: the rise of gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha.

Kilgore calls day-laborer centers -- there are such facilities in Arlington, Silver Spring, Takoma Park and plans for two more in Wheaton and Gaithersburg -- "magnets for illegal immigration." But the real attraction is jobs generated by the region's hot economy.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimated that Virginia and Maryland each was home to more than 700,000 foreign-born people, of whom 200,000 to 250,000 people in each population are undocumented.

In what demographers call "new settlement areas," communities sometimes are overwhelmed by the rapid change and the demands placed on schools, law enforcement and social services. But residents also get to know the newcomers in a different way, distinguishing between "immigration" as a concept and the "immigrants" that they meet.

The Post poll shows that Northern Virginia voters, who live in the most immigrant-populated area of the state, differ with the rest of the state on the impact of immigration and on the day-laborer centers. By a slight majority, Northern Virginia voters favor using public money to build the centers.

Mark J. Rozell, a public policy professor at George Mason University who is closely following the Virginia race, said he isn't sure how the issue will play out.

"I think it was risky, but on the other hand, I don't see how Kilgore could not bring it up," Rozell said, because the issue has become so important to Kilgore's conservative base.

"The situation in Herndon shows that you don't have to be a border state for the issue to reverberate."

Polling director Richard Morin and staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.