The hugely popular shopping center Rhode Island Plaza is strategically wedged between two major D.C. corridors (New York Avenue and Rhode Island Avenue). Major attractions there include a Metro station and a Metrobus junction. There’s a major distraction there, too: The site has become a magnet for crime. "As many as 200 mostly Hispanic day laborers congregate each day at the shopping plaza, which includes a Home Depot and Giant grocery store, looking to link up with contractors for jobs," Gary Emerling of The Washington Times reported Friday. "Residents have complained that some of the workers loiter, drink alcohol and urinate in public."But misdemeanants aren’t the only offenders who gather there. Rhode Island Plaza is also popular with thieves, assailants, illegal aliens and jackleg contractors. It’s a disgraceful situation, because instead of enforcing the law, City Hall thumbs its nose at residents, consumers and the law.As the mayor of a sanctuary city, Adrian Fenty placates misdemeanants and felons alike by refusing to insist that D.C. officers enforce immigration and local laws. The day laborers, who are neither solely illegal aliens nor Hispanics, are wholly comfortable with that policy. They know they can use the shopping center as a public toilet and public watering hole and get away with it. They know that in practice (though not necessarily policy), the police are keenly focused on protection — not prevention.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071112/EDITORIAL/111120006/1013