Students Walk Out in 2nd Day Of Immigration Rights Protest

Lopez said everyone's quality of life in the Washington area is improved by immigrants. "We work at fast food restaurants. We paint houses. We mow lawns. Most people work without papers."

In Prince William, in addition to students from Freedom High School, many young people waving Mexican and El Salvadoran flags said they were from C.D. Hylton, Gar-Field and Woodbridge high schools, all in the eastern section of the county, where many Latinos live.

The students marched down Route 1 to Todos Supermarket, operated by Carlos Castro, a Salvadoran immigrant.

Arlington County Board member Walter Tejada (D), who joined the demonstration at Washington-Lee, said the students had been "itching to have their voices heard."

"They know that this bill unfairly cuts the legs of the working immigrant community," he said.

Christian Dorn, 16, a Salvadoran and a junior at Potomac High School in Dumfries, said the demonstrations had proved something.

"It got the word out that we're not going to be quiet," she said. "It's similar to what the African Americans did in the 1960s. . . . We shouldn't be treated like criminals."

Staff writers Ian Shapira and Jamie Stockwell contributed to this report.