Businesses and economists say crackdown on undocumented workers would devastate county

They peel potatoes and grill hamburgers in Annapolis' most popular kitchens. They change the sheets and scrub the toilets in the area's busiest hotels. They pull up weeds and plant flowers in the yards of pricey waterfront homes and in construction-happy Annapolis their brute, physical toil is the force behind an emerging skyline.

They are faceless neighbors and co-workers, members of a burgeoning immigrant community quietly taking root in Anne Arundel County. And many are here illegally.

Of the 250,000 illegal immigrants living in the state of Maryland, experts say as many as 40,000 are concentrated in Anne Arundel County...