The New “Sundown” Towns: Prince William County, Virginia and Escondido, California

In July, I wrote a blog entry entitled The Modern Sundown Towns.  The discussion below is a lengthier exploration of the issue that is part of a draft article (with footnotes) tentatively entitled “The Intersection of Race and Class in U.S. Immigration Law and Enforcement,” which will be submitted for inclusion in a symposium on race and class in Duke Law School’s Law & Contemporary Problems.

The conventional wisdom has been that federal power over immigration is exclusive, with little room for state and local immigration regulation. Nonetheless, a number of state and local governments frustrated with the failure of Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform in recent years have adopted measures that purport to address undocumented

immigration and immigrants. Race and class unquestionably have influenced the passage of these measures.

A number of local governments have unsuccessfully attempted to address the efforts of day laborers – relatively unskilled workers, many of whom are undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America – to secure work. “Day laborers are short-term workers that assemble in areas where they are likely to be visible to potential employers. Day laborers typically assemble in areas such as sidewalks, parking lots, and around construction supply stores.”

Prince William County, Virginia responded to an increase of Latina/o immigrants settling in the community by adopting a measure that required police officers to check the immigration status of anyone who is accused of breaking the law, whether for speeding or shoplifting, if they believe that person is in the country unlawfully, and also to cut off certain county services and benefits. As a result, Latina/o immigrants and citizens reportedly have moved out of Prince William County, to the dismay of some businesses and the approval of some white residents. Supporters of the local immigration measures claim that the laws will promote “self-deportation” of undocumented immigrants and thus foster adherence to the federal immigration laws. But the Latinos moving out of Prince William County appear to be moving to neighboring localities and states rather than self-deporting to their native countries.

Similarly, the city of Escondido, California, with a Spanish name not far from the U.S./Mexico border, is another local government that has sought to deter Latina/o immigrants from remaining in its jurisdiction. In the last few years, Escondido has tried to rid itself of undocumented immigrants through a number of means including passing an ordinance (later rescinded after a legal challenge) barring landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants, immigration sweeps, and aggressive enforcement of city codes and other policies. The department’s most controversial move was checkpoints targeting unlicensed drivers. In 2007, “the department set up 18 license checkpoints, which resulted in 293 impounded cars, 14 arrests and 296 citations..“ Escondido currently is attacking undocumented immigration indirectly by, among other things, citing residents for code violations such as garage conversions, graffiti, and junk cars. City officials considered a policy restricting drivers from picking up day laborers. Escondido’s approach has been described as the method of “attrition: making life as difficult as possible for undocumented immigrants in the hope that they’ll self-deport back home,” which seems unlikely given that residence is possible in other jurisdictions. A retired sheriff maintained, however, that Escondido is “`looking for a way to reduce the number of brown people.’”

The end result of local immigration measures like those in Prince William County and Escondido may well be variants of the old “sundown town,” communities in the United States that emerged in the North after the Civil War, when many freed slaves left the South, in which African Americans were systematically excluded from town after sunset. This allowed workers of color to provide labor needed in town but without the perceived burden on townspeople of having them be neighbors. Ordinances that bar landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants, including ones adopted by Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Valley Park, Missouri, and Farmer’s Branch, Texas, have been called the new Jim Crow. These ordinances may result in discrimination against national origin minorities (including U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents).

There is little indication that the labor provided by immigrants will not be utilized to maintain the homes and yards of city residents as well as in restaurants, hotels, construction, and service industries. The elimination of day laborer pick ups would likely drive the employment of these workers further underground but would not likely eliminate this informal labor market. The new sundown town, it appears, thus will have Latina/o immigrant workers by day but will be white-dominated at night.

KJ