Arlington Center Offers Hope in Hard Times

Immigrants Find Support, Counseling to Weather Downturn

In Prince William County, immigrant communities are unraveling as foreclosures, a weak economy, a police crackdown and harsh policies to deny services to illegal immigrants kick in. In Herndon, a day labor center became such a lightning rod in the national debate about illegal immigrants that residents elected leaders who shut it down 21 months after it opened.

In Richmond, lawmakers this session pushed 130 bills, most of which failed, that would make life harder for illegal immigrants. And the record number of deportations across the United States last year, 282,000, was more than double the number from 2001.

But things are different in Arlington County.

In Arlington, where officials unanimously approved a resolution last fall welcoming all immigrants, regardless of their status, a day labor center has operated without much fanfare for eight years. And now, even in a budget crunch, officials are asking for mental health counseling for immigrant workers.

And they're getting it.

"Things have gotten really bad for day laborers. Many have lost their houses, their places of work. Many are exploited and not paid. And they have no way to make things better," county mental health counselor Fernando Peñaherrera said in Spanish.

For the past month, Peñaherrera has met every Wednesday with day laborers to talk about stress, anxiety, depression and substance abuse.

"Alcohol is the easiest answer for many of them," he said. "Wherever you go, there is a 7-Eleven, and you can buy a six-pack. The situation is serious. Many are losing hope."

The request for counseling came from Andres Tobar, executive director of the Shirlington Employment and Education Center, just off Four Mile Run.

"In the last couple years, we've had a more than 50 percent drop in jobs," he told the County Board at a budget hearing. "Where we might have had 500 jobs a month, now we're down to 230, maybe 200. We saw able men looking for work and able to meet their needs. Today, we're finding them scraping and not able to meet the rent."

Many have become homeless, he said.

One recent, dreary day, men in baseball caps, paint-spattered sweat shirts and work boots milled about outside the center. Some waited in the covered shelter outside, where they scanned the streets for any people who might drive by and ask for workers for the day.