A snapshot of the immigration story in Virginia

George Taplin and the Minutemen

On this frigid 17-degree-morning, the showdown begins just after 6 a.m. About a dozen residents taking the law into their own hands. George Taplin feverishly yells,  "I'm going to get that guy!" as he chases down a white van with his 35 mm camera.

He is dogged in his mission to rid HIS town of a nuance he says are the day laborers.  So determined in fact that he started the first chapter on the east coast of the Minutemen.

FREE VIDEO Va.: The Minutemen Some residents are taking the law into their own hands. As part of Minutemen in Virgina, they photograph possible illegal immigrants at a day labor site — and the employers who hire them. Dateline NBC

Virginia is a far cry from the U.S.-Mexico border. Their battle front? The local 7-11, where a group of day laborers — mostly Latino immigrants — gather each morning to wait for work.

When we met the Minutemen their most important fight was to keep an official day labor site from opening up within the town limits. This they say will only attract more day laborers and more illegal employers paying sub-standard wages.

MORE FROM IN THE SHADOW OF THE AMERICAN DREAM

In The Shadow of the American Dream Section Front

The 21st century immigrant story The immigration story in Virginia The immigration story in N.C. The challenges in telling the story Everyone's fighting for 'the American dream' They come to small towns too In The Shadow of the American Dream Section Front   Add In The Shadow of the American Dream headlines to your news reader: