In Herndon, Only Feet Away but Worlds Apart

"Lisa," Taplin said, using his telephoto lens to zoom in on the license plate of a truck backing out of a parking space at the 7-Eleven. "Did you get the license plate of that white truck?"

As he called out the numbers, Lisa Turner wrote them down and then cross-checked the plate number with the list of licenses from previous visits.

Turner, a mother of three young boys who was dressed in a red coat with black hat and scarf, said she joined the group after meeting Taplin at her chiropractor's office.

"They're getting free services," she said of the day laborers. "The employers are breaking the law because they are not paying taxes on the wages."

The Minutemen and the men in search of work stood in the cold across the street from each other, both waiting for employers to show up. But business was slow. Sometimes five or 10 minutes would pass before another contractor pulled up.

Taplin used one lull to make a point he thought important.

"I don't care about them," he said as the laborers stared across at him. "I don't mean I don't care about them on a human level, but on this issue. We are interested in the employers."

A Work Offer

Jose Abrego watched the man in the gray-and-black parka who seemed to be giving instructions to the woman in the red coat with the clipboard.

"I think he's their leader," said Abrego, a 43-year-old father of five from Honduras.

Behind Abrego, a community organizer began handing the day laborers maps to a new county-funded hiring site that was approved by the Town Council after a bitter, months-long debate. It's set to open next week. But most of the laborers were enthralled by the sight of the Minutemen.

Aleman wondered whether someone was paying the Minutemen. How else could they find the time to be snapping photos on a workday? Well, he added, unless they were rich and had no need to work.

"Just imagine," he said with a frown. "They have all that money, and I'm standing here with only one dollar in my pocket."