To Illegal Immigrants, Md. Feeling Less Friendly

Public anger against illegal immigrants, already entrenched in parts of Northern Virginia, is seeping into Maryland. With legislators facing unprecedented demands to take action, fears of a crackdown are spreading among illegal immigrants in a state that has been more tolerant of them.

A record 20 bills targeting illegal immigrants have been introduced in the state legislature this session. Although none of the bills is expected to survive, their supporters are far more vocal and organized than in the past, and the movement has gained recent support in Maryland communities that include Mount Rainier, Gaithersburg and Taneytown.

"If there is any doubt that people like me truly represent the overwhelming majority on this issue, show some courage and put it on a referendum," Margaret Montuori of Bethesda told the House Judiciary Committee at a hearing last week.

Last fall, a Washington Post poll found that about half of Maryland residents considered illegal immigration a problem and that Marylanders were more apt than Virginians to call it a "very serious" problem. Eighty-five percent of those surveyed said they wanted state and local government to take an active role in dealing with the issue.

The clamor is causing alarm among the thousands of day laborers, dishwashers and babysitters who live and work without legal papers in Maryland and who are beginning to see refugees from Virginia in the busy Latino enclaves along the bus routes of Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

"Everywhere you go now, the first thing they ask you for is papers," Juan Perez, 28, a Central American construction worker, said outside a gas station in Langley Park one recent morning. "We do the work faster and cheaper, but no one wants us now. I haven't sent any money home to my family since December, and I can barely pay to sleep in my friend's apartment."

Just across University Boulevard, a battered sedan with Virginia tags pulled up in front of a convenience store. The driver, a carpenter from Guatemala named Raul Romano, 40, said he and his family had recently fled Prince William County, their home for eight years, after it enacted a law allowing police to question immigrants about their legal status.

"Now I am too scared to go back and return my license plates," said Romano, who has lived illegally in the United States for 18 years. "I left my job, my apartment, my daughters left their school. Now, here we are in Maryland, starting over again. We don't know anyone, but it's safer for the moment. Tomorrow, it might be a different story."

The 20 bills introduced in Annapolis -- a sharp increase from three last year -- include proposals that would require driver's license applicants to prove they are lawfully in the country, voters to confirm their legal status at the polls and local governments to enforce federal immigration laws.

Legislators said most have no chance of passage in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. Some have been killed in committee, and most others are expected to languish until the legislature adjourns next month.

"The voices are louder, but I doubt a single piece of legislation will get through," said Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Mont). She said opponents of illegal immigration are "better organized now, but they are not convincing the hearts and minds of the people. Maryland is still an immigrant-friendly environment."

Activists against illegal immigration said the legislature is out of touch with public frustration and concern. During hearings in the past two weeks, residents have testified that illegal immigrants are inundating schools, hospitals and suburban neighborhoods and warned that they might bring disease and terrorism.