A Second Migration

But these residents sometimes struggle to adapt in their new communities, where fewer of their neighbors speak Spanish and there aren't as many transportation options. The influx of these residents has strained services in such places as Prince William and Loudoun counties -- where Hispanic populations have risen 130 and 113 percent, respectively, in the past five years -- and in the city of Manassas. Controversy erupted there after the city passed -- then repealed -- an overcrowding law making it illegal for extended families to live together -- a law some believed targeted Latinos.

Officials are struggling to find ways meet the need. In Prince William, for example, some members of the Board of Supervisors have railed against the cost of illegal immigration. And the county recently began broadcasting free Spanish lessons on TV.

Gloria Hernandez, 38, a custodial worker, left Arlington last year when her apartment building was slated for renovations and she couldn't afford the new rent. Now she's a homeowner -- buying a blue-and-red-brick $301,000 townhouse in Prince William not far from Potomac Mills mall. She lives there with her boyfriend, a construction worker, and two of her children.

She is proud of her home but has struggled to pay her $2,800 monthly mortgage, taking in two other roommates. She and her boyfriend share a car, a necessity in Prince William. She has to get up at 4:30 a.m. to take him to work -- an hour and a half trip.

"Nothing is easy here," Hernandez said, sitting down in her living room, cluttered with toys. A pot of red beans bubbled on the stove. Paco, the family parakeet, rustled in his cage. "I worry so much . . . and if I don't pay all my bills I'll be living under the bridge!" she said.

She misses her old life in Arlington, when she could walk easily to church and shops in the neighborhood along Mount Vernon Avenue nicknamed Chirilagua by locals, after a village in El Salvador where many of its residents once hailed.

She and her boyfriend talk often moving back to Arlington. But she knows that is a far-off dream.

"I want to go back there, but I can't afford the rent," she said. "I need to stay here for now. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."