Latinos Looking Over Shoulder Near D.C.
"Work-van drivers signaled long before their turns to avoid being pulled over for a traffic violation. Day laborers skipped their early morning coffee at 7-Eleven, and merengue tunes played to empty tables at Latino lunch counters across Prince William County [Virginia, S.E. of D.C.] yesterday.
It was the first day of a county ordinance that allows police to check people's immigration status for even minor legal infractions.
Police officials pledged to enforce the law fairly and to not stop and question individuals based on their racial or ethnic appearance, but many Hispanic residents said they feared they would be stopped without reason and deported for such violations as driving without a valid license or having a broken taillight."
PAMELA CONSTABLE and NICK MIROFF in the Washington Post.