Latinos Unite Across Classes Against Curbs on Immigration

José Marinay wears tailored suits, plays racquetball twice a week and displays photos of family-owned racehorses in his Annandale office. For years, the Colombian-born businessman thought he had little in common with the area's illegal immigrants, often villagers from Mexico and Central America who sleep 10 to a house and push lawn mowers or scrub pots for a living.

But the battle in Prince William County, where a measure to curb illegal immigration has thrown the Latino community into turmoil, changed his mind.

"This situation has brought together people who never would have sat in one room before," said Marinay, 50, who owns a real estate settlement company that has offices across Northern Virginia and a mainly Latino clientele. Since the measure was passed in July, he said, business has fallen 80 percent at his Manassas office, and he will probably close it. He also said a sense of growing hostility toward Latino immigrants has affected him.

"I dress well, and I drive a nice car. But on the weekends, when I am in shorts and sandals and I haven't shaved, I look Latino enough to scare a few folks," Marinay said. "There is a definite chill in the air. We may be a fragmented community, we may eat or celebrate in different places, but now they are looking at us in the same way. If we don't unite and work together, we will all sink."

Although not yet enacted into law, the resolution passed by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors has created a sense of siege and solidarity throughout the county's wider Latino community of about 30,000. Rumors circulate that people will be arrested if they board buses or drop off their children at school. Some legal residents, who bought homes and opened businesses, expecting to stay for years, say they are thinking of leaving.

"When we came to Manassas 20 years ago, it was a beautiful place. We were full of enthusiasm and optimism. But in the last three months, that has all gone away," said Carlos Alvarado, 45, a Salvadoran immigrant whose variety store sells fresh corn tamales, pi¿atas and frilly girls' dresses. Many customers are too broke or scared to shop, he said. "Everyone is talking about moving to Maryland or North Carolina, and I am almost bankrupt."

Sponsors and advocates of the resolution assert it is neither anti-Latino nor anti-immigrant. They insist it is aimed at stopping the steady influx of illegal immigrants during the past decade, who they complain are crowding neighborhoods and burdening schools. The measure would deny some services to illegal immigrants and allow local police to turn them over to federal officials.

At first, the region's Latino community was conflicted in its response, reflecting differences in class, education levels, immigration status, national origin and ideological roots. Within the business community, potential allies saw each other as economic rivals first.

The split was exacerbated by the confrontational actions of a group in Virginia, Mexicans Without Borders, that staged a number of protests against the measure, including a one-week store boycott in August. The group has called for a one-day countywide work stoppage today. Last month, the group put up a huge Liberty Wall in Manassas with a sign that condemns "racism against Hispanics." The sign was half torn down by vandals last weekend.

Many established Latino immigrants in Northern Virginia said they disapproved of such tactics, saying they feared the efforts would turn community goodwill against them, too. But as the firestorm over illegal immigration has spread, more affluent Latinos in the area, including entrepreneurs from Colombia and Venezuela, have come to realize they have a personal and economic stake in resolving the issue.

In August, a regional Latino business coalition was formed to seek subtler ways to fight anti-immigration measures, such as through personal lobbying and economic power. Coalition leaders said that it was hard to get some entrepreneurs involved but that more are being spurred to action by a mixture of self-interest, guilt and sympathy for those they once considered a lower class of immigrant.

"This is definitely not business as usual. If people can't buy groceries, they can't buy cars or houses," said Marinay, a coalition official. Other members work in real estate, banking, entertainment and insurance. "We are a wealthy group, and we have invested millions in this region," he said. "Why can't we get these people off our backs? It's our own fault for not being united."