Critics of Prince William County’s illegal immigration resolution banded together Monday to announce a boycott of malls and major chain stores in the fast-growing suburban community. The weeklong effort seeks to show united opposition to recent county proposals to deny services to illegal immigrants and speed deportation of those who break the law, said organizer Ricardo Juarez.
“We are asking people of goodwill to stay away from Potomac Mills Mall, Manassas Mall and the major chain stores and restaurants in the county,” Juarez said.
But the boycott is a difficult sell for some business owners, who remain divided over the tactic.
Merchants who want to welcome immigrant customers this week are encouraged to post large green signs in the windows, and close to 500 have been distributed, boycott organizers said.
Though Rigo Tejada, a strong opponent of the resolution, posted a sign in the window of his Santa Rita Market along busy Prince William Parkway, he had reservations about immigrants boycotting other businesses.
“Everybody has a right to make a buck,” said Tejada, who moved to Northern Virginia from El Salvador 28 years ago. “I am not sure if this is the best way to make the point.”
Such concerns are to be expected in an immigrant community of more than 60,000, said fellow boycott organizer John Steinbach of the Woodbridge Workers Committee.
“There are a lot of different points of view,” he said. “The immigrant community is not monolithic.”
At a pair of family-owned Laundromats in Woodbridge and Dumfries, owner Ginger Trest is touting support for the boycott to show solidarity with the immigrant customers who make up about 50 percent of her clientele.
“We do not agree with the resolution,” Grest said. “We feel it is discrimination directed toward one segment of the population.”
Others say the boycott is punishing businesses for a county policy finally aiming to address the illegal immigration question, said Greg Letiecq, president of anti-illegal immigration group Help Save Manassas.
“I don’t see any indication anyone is really supporting this,” Letiecq told The Examiner.
The boycott is to be the first of three major protests and will build to a Sunday afternoon rally at the county administration building.
Efforts to develop the policy are ongoing and will be addressed at separate board meetings Sept. 18 and Oct. 2.
