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Starting today, hundreds of motorcycle riders and RVs will leave Golden, Colo., on a 10-week `` 21st Century Paul Revere Ride'' that will travel to every state capital in the lower-48 states before ending in Washington on Aug. 12.

But unlike the ride by the real Paul Revere in April 1775 to warn of the approach of British troops, the new version is intended to raise awareness of what participants consider to be a new invasion: millions of immigrants, legal and illegal, that adherents say add to welfare roles, disrupt school systems and commit crimes.

`` We've got to close our borders,'' said ride coordinator Howard Wooldridge of Frederick, Md., whose brother, author and Internet broadcaster Frosty Wooldridge, originated the idea for the ride. `` We're losing manufacturing jobs all across our country. We already have all the unskilled labor we need. We don't need any more coming from other countries,'' Wooldridge said.

The ride, which will begin amid fanfare and a VIP sendoff that will include U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, is scheduled to visit Boston on Aug. 7, including stops at local historical sites where members plan to `` pay homage'' to Revere and other patriots.

Riders expect to pass through the Attleboro area en route to Providence and a culminating rally in Washington, D.C. As might be expected, the Revere Ride is generating a lot of controversy.

`` It's unfortunate that groups such as this have stolen the honor of the Minutemen and Paul Revere, all of whom stood up for freedom and liberty, and many of whom were immigrants themselves,'' said Shuya Ohno, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.

Ohno said policy experts ranging from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to the U.S. military have supported the value of immigrants as a positive benefit to the United States.

`` This has become such an emotional issue that, unfortunately, the truth often gets lost,'' Ohno said.

While Wooldridge's views may seem extreme to some, his rhetoric is symbolic of a rising tide of concern over immigration that is coloring the national debate over reform.

The Minuteman Project, a volunteer organization that has monitored the Mexican border to call attention to the millions of illegal aliens illegally crossing into the U.S., has spawned imitators in the Northeast, Midwest and South.

State and local governments in Massachusetts and elsewhere have moved to limit illegal aliens' access to jobs and services, and many politicians and lobbying groups are calling for a crackdown on employers who hire illegal workers, as well as the immigrants, themselves.

Despite protests of racism, many of those seeking curbs on immigration -- including Wooldridge -- say their campaign is nothing of the kind.

Instead, immigration critics say the country is absorbing immigrants faster than they can be assimilated into the population, taking jobs from U.S. citizens and placing greater demands on schools and public services.

`` We understand that many immigrants are hard-working people who want to support their families,'' Woodridge said. `` But there are also criminals and other troublemakers who may be a national security issue.'' Wooldridge says he supports fencing the entire U.S.-Mexico border, which he said would help make existing Border Patrol efforts more effective and discourage many of those who might otherwise try to cross.

He also would like to see annual immigrant entry into the United States reduced from about 4 million to 250,000 or less.

Other groups are also harshly critical of immigration and proposed federal legislation that would create a guest worker program for foreign workers and open the path to citizenship to many of the estimated 12 million illegal aliens currently in the country.

The Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies estimates that immigration costs local and state governments $11 billion to $22 billion per year because of the higher consumption of government services by relatively low-paid undocumented workers.

The group says that number will only increase under proposed immigration reform in which more illegal aliens would be eligible for guest worker status or be placed on a path to citizenship. But those who favor immigration, such as Ohno, brand the center's figures as erroneous and based on questionable research.

In Massachusetts, the immigration debate has spawned a number of state and local actions aimed at immigrants, and may yet result in higher penalties for companies that hire illegal workers.

The state Legislature recently rejected a bill that would allow illegal aliens to pay tuition at the in-state rate at state colleges and universities.

The towns of Milford and Framingham adopted health regulations banning illegal workers from the food service industry, arguing a potential health risk from employees who might not have received required immunizations.

State Rep. Betty Poirier, R-North Attleboro, opposed the tuition bill but says she favors treating immigrants fairly and humanely. However, she said there are limits beyond which policymakers should not go.

`` There were many good arguments in favor of the bill,'' Poirier said. `` But how can you allow an illegal immigrant to potentially take the place of someone who is an American citizen?''

Late last week, the state Senate passed a bill that would increase fines for employers who hire illegal aliens and block housing subsidies to illegal immigrant families. The bill now

State Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, a co-sponsor of the provision that would keep illegal aliens from accessing public housing, said such a ban is justified.

`` It's absolutely logical, if you have illegal immigrants taking housing spots away from veterans, elders and U.S. citizens who actually paid tax dollars their whole lives, then it doesn't make sense,'' he said.

The provision is contained in an amendment to the state budget filed by state Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, along with the four other Republicans in the Senate. It would have to be reconciled with the House version of the budget.

While most Americans are descended from immigrants, Poirier said a swelling tide of immigration -- legal and illegal -- is causing problems for communities.

`` It's having a major impact on school populations,'' she said. `` Schools are having to provide special services because of the large numbers of languages being spoken, and in many cases there are kids that fall into the special needs category.''

Just how much local schools are affected by having to educate children of illegal aliens isn't clear.

A Supreme Court ruling effectively keeps schools from discriminating against illegal aliens in enrollment, said Attleboro federal Title I Coordinator Marie Deedy.

`` The principle is, basically, what you offer for one you have to offer for all,'' she said. Attleboro's school system currently employs four teachers who work primarily with students who are making the transition to English from other languages, school officials said.