The Minutemen Go Local

The Minuteman Project has generated some controversy, but there's no denying that it appeals to many citizens who are unhappy with illegal immigration. Local clubs like this one, which is not too far from me, might become the norm...

Heads turned in unison to a dozen people moving toward them on Elden Street in Herndon. Although the men's clothing -- work boots and bluejeans -- revealed them as day laborers, the new group wore warm winter coats and snug-fitting gloves and carried cameras with long lenses, a camcorder, a couple of walkie-talkies and a clipboard list of license plate numbers collected on previous visits.

"The day is ruined. They're going to scare off the employers," Alex Aleman, a 32-year-old Honduran in a black ski cap, told his friends in Spanish. "When they come, we don't eat."

It was the start of an almost-weekly ritual in this Northern Virginia town that began in mid-October when locals who object to the informal day-laborer site formed a Herndon branch of the Minuteman Project, a national group that actively opposes illegal immigration.

The Minutemen train their lenses on contractors who drive to the lot at Elden Street and Alabama Drive to hire the day laborers, many of whom are in the country illegally. They say they plan to hand the photographs to the Internal Revenue Service for investigation.

...Luis Hererra, 32, a Salvadoran who arrived four months ago, wanted to know whether it was legal for the Minutemen to photograph people against their will.

"I'm in a foreign country now," Hererra said. "I don't know the laws here yet."

The irony of that statement stood out for me. The issue of illegal immigration is rather complex on an economic level; I know that there are substantial arguments for and against ideas like the President's guest-worker program. But I also know that the law is clear-cut on this issue, and we can't solve the problem simply by ignoring it. There's a lack of respect for the law against illegal immigration that is disturbing.

At some point, citizens are bound to take up the job of law enforcement with creative ideas like the one above. I see nothing objectionable in doing this work, or even in publicizing the names of contractors who are seen employing illegal immigrants. I just hope our leaders realize that there is a growing problem here, and continued ignorance or an inability to pursue bold reforms could lead to a crisis that would not be managable. If a terrorist sneaks across the border and commits another crime on the scope of 9/11 (or even tries), there will be many more clubs like this one, and they won't settle for simply writing down license plate numbers.