When nearby counties began trying to drive out illegal immigrants this summer, Arlington said it would treat everyone with "dignity and respect, regardless of immigration status."
Other counties felt overwhelmed by immigrants, but Arlington officials said they would happily provide them with every service allowed by law.
After three decades of working to make foreigners feel welcome, Arlington has good reason to pointedly reaffirm this philosophical embrace. More than one in four residents is a first- or second-generation immigrant, yet the county boasts low crime and unemployment rates. School test scores are high, and newcomers interact peaceably with fifth-generation residents. That success results in part from the county's history of attracting a gradual, diverse stream of foreigners and in part from its strong efforts to help integrate them in the community.
Still, commercial development and rising real estate prices are making Arlington less affordable to many new immigrants, and school officials and business owners report that a sense of fear is beginning to filter in.
"The attitude has always been: They're here. They're part of the community. Let's help them succeed," said Chris Zimmerman, a longtime County Board member. He said his children attended schools with classmates from dozens of countries. "They got something from those relationships that you can't teach in a curriculum or show in test scores," he said, "something that will benefit them their entire lives."
The origins and evolution of immigrant communities in Arlington, a compact county of 200,000 where public school students speak 120 languages, have sowed economic success and social goodwill. Counties such as Prince William and Loudoun have faced a recent wave of Hispanic immigrants, many poorly educated and some illegal, but Arlington has received a more manageable and diverse flow, beginning with Vietnamese refugees who arrived in the late 1970s with extensive federal aid.
The county had more time and resources to study and meet immigrant needs. Arlington pioneered in teaching English to foreigners of all ages, made business licenses and loans accessible to immigrant enterprises, hired bilingual teachers and police, and established social services in ethnic enclaves.
This approach helped contain problems that festered elsewhere, including Latino gang violence and public loitering by day laborers looking for work.
Some immigrants became pillars of Arlington's cultural and economic life. One was Nguyen Van Thoi, a Vietnamese refugee and prisoner of war who arrived in 1978, opened a restaurant called Nam Viet and expanded to six eateries before he died of cancer in 2005. His eldest son now manages the family businesses, and his widow hosts an annual gathering of former POWs.
"Arlington always embraced us. I don't think we would have been able to flourish as much anyplace else," said the son, John Nguyen, 31. Thoi's restaurants benefited from small-business loans and tax incentives, and his children assimilated rapidly through county schools. Nguyen said about 400 people, including Arlington officials, attended his father's funeral. "More than anything, that tells you what this county is about," he said.
Waves of immigrants followed the Vietnamese, including thousands of refugees from conflicts in the Horn of Africa and Central America. They were attracted by Arlington's location, affordable housing, open-minded reputation and well-endowed school system, which kept up with the flow by expanding programs to boost the newcomers' skills, ambitions and sense of belonging.
Today, Arlington students consistently score high in English-based testing. At Gunston Middle School, eighth-grade geography students discuss the meaning of "assimilation" and "culture," exchanging examples of their native food, clothing and language. Science students conduct experiments while being taught simultaneously in English and Spanish.
"We're constantly trying new ways to keep them focused and engaged," Principal Margaret Gill said. Activities include homework clubs, brochures and parenting classes. "They aren't immune to negative headlines, but there are no barriers here. We see every child as potentially college-bound."
For immigrants who cannot keep up in high school or are too old to attend, the Arlington Mill Community Center provides free crash-course adult learning. This fall, students in the world history class include clowning Central American teenagers, tired South Asian night-shift workers and a gracious Lebanese woman fluent in French.
"The teachers here care whether we understand, and they even ask our opinions," said Huguette Assaf, 52, the immigrant from Beirut. "This is very different from what happens back home."
Assaf also said local residents had taken time to help her as a newcomer. "They hear my accent, and I hear theirs," she said. "It is slow, but people are patient."
Immigrants have benefited from the county's being a bastion of liberal Democratic activism -- not unlike Takoma Park, a self-proclaimed "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants. Many native Arlingtonians have international experience, including government travel and stints in the Peace Corps. Residents of North Arlington, which is more affluent and has fewer immigrants than South Arlington, appear just as proud of the county's reputation.
Hispanics have a champion in Walter Tejada, a U.S. citizen from El Salvador who was elected to the County Board in 2003. Tejada, who was reelected this month, said one of his priorities is to preserve Arlington's inclusive spirit. Illegal immigration, a burning election issue in other counties, was virtually unmentioned in that race.
Over the years, Arlington's immigrant population has shifted with the economic tides. Latin American families saved their money and bought townhouses in Herndon. Whole blocks of Asian shops moved to Fairfax. Lately, smaller groups have arrived from Mongolia and the former Soviet Union.
Today, the social and governmental welcome for foreign newcomers remains warm, but the economic reception is becoming colder. Along the apartment-lined bus routes where immigrants flocked for years, such as Clarendon Boulevard and Columbia Pike, new commercial corridors are pricing them out.
"It's really sad to see," said Hailu Dama, 50, who owns an Ethiopian restaurant and bakery on Columbia Pike. "Arlington was always a wonderful place for immigrants to integrate. They went the extra mile to help businesses like mine, and in one neighborhood, 16 or 17 countries would be represented. But now, with real estate prices and property taxes going through the roof, it is killing a little bit of that diversity."
There are also signs that the chilling effects of new policies elsewhere are beginning to be felt in Arlington. At Arlington Mill school, officials said they had received many calls this summer asking whether applicants had to bring proof of residency. And at El Rancho Migueleno restaurant, owner Oscar Amaya said his business had plummeted.
"Arlington is supposed to be totally safe for immigrants, but people are getting scared here, too," Amaya said. "The economy is good, the people are friendly, and the police got rid of the gangs. But there is a feeling of insecurity now, and people are talking about leaving. I want to tell them, 'Come back. Arlington is different.' But something bigger is happening, and I worry it is happening here, too."
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**Photo Courtesy of Carol Guzy (The Washington Post)
