The Observer Newspapers | Still Waiting for National Immigration Plan

April 17, 2008

Still Waiting for National Immigration Plan

To the editor:

A letter appearing in the April 18 edition of The Observer ("Reston Interfaith Creates Problems with Laborers") portrays Reston Interfaith staffers as devious predators hungry to enrich themselves on $175,000 worth of grant money from the county by way of reinstating organized day laborer assembly in Herndon.

I gather from the hysterical tone of the letter that there must be some serious discussion underway about what went wrong and what went right with the erstwhile Herndon Official Worker's Center, of late both the jewel of Herndon and the downfall depending upon whom you ask.

If the aforementioned letter is a bellwether, we can rest assured that the debate will continue unabated and unresolved. Having day laborers on Elden Street is okay by me. Everybody has to put food on the table whether they have legal status or not. Making the effort to treat struggling people humanely by providing a modest trailer and tent to protect them from the elements seemed to me like a good plan.

Meanwhile, the political football that is national immigration policy remains eternally suspended in midair.

Marcia Roop

Herndon