Engaging Law, Community, and Victims in Dialogue: From Conflict to Shared Understanding

The year following 9/11 witnessed a significant change in the climate and personal experiences of citizens in the greater metropolitan area of our nation's capital. Communities and organizations were challenged to deal with a variety of sensitive and complex issues that were only intensified by the ongoing sense of threat.

In northern Virginia, there had been numerous stories of raids conducted by federal agents on immigrants' homes. "Foreigners" who may have posed a threat to the security and well-being of our American neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces had been singled out.