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Day Workers Thrust Virginia Town Into Illegal-Immigration Fight
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a8UhgJuWIz6Q&refer=us
On any weekday morning, as many as 60 Latino immigrants congregate near a 7-Eleven store in Herndon, Virginia, about 30 miles west of Washington. They are waiting for someone to drive up and offer them work for the day.
Smaller groups of the so-called day laborers gather at a McDonald's, a Shell station and a Mexican grocery. ``It has become somewhat of an eyesore and a bit of a nuisance, and a number of citizens have asked the town to do something about it,'' Herndon Mayor Michael O'Reilly said.
Herndon's response hasn't exactly doused the controversy: It plans to spend $175,000 to help build a shelter for the day laborers to wait in. The decision has triggered a lawsuit to block the plan and has made Herndon, a town of 22,000 far from the nation's borders, a microcosm of the growing U.S. debate over what to do about illegal immigrants.
``We think people are tired of the federal government not enforcing immigration laws, and we're furious that local governments aren't doing anything about it,'' said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a self-described conservative educational foundation, which has sued the town.
Fitton said his Washington-based group may broaden the suit to include Fairfax County, which has approved $400,000 in funding for shelters in Herndon and two other communities in the county.
Shelter Advocates
Supporters say day-laborer sites protect the workers and provide a way for them to find jobs without hanging around private property and blocking traffic. While immigrant advocates concede that many workers may be in the U.S. illegally, they say it's up to employers to check their status.
``This is not a public benefit to undocumented workers,'' said Flavia Jimenez, immigration policy analyst at the Washington- based National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic advocacy group in the U.S. ``We've seen many benefits to the community as a whole and then to the workers themselves in having a center,'' she said.
The workers, almost all male, are used mainly by construction companies. Some are hired by individuals for such things as painting and yard work.
Dozens of other cities have established shelters to deal with the day-labor phenomenon, according to the National Day Laborer Organizing Network in Los Angeles. Jupiter, Florida, last month approved what will be the first government-sponsored day- laborer site in Palm Beach County.
Herndon Plan
Under the Herndon plan, approved by a 5-2 council vote in August, the town would contribute its money for a shelter on the parking lot of what is now a temporary police headquarters. A coalition of faith-based groups called Project Hope and Harmony would operate the site. Workers caught soliciting at other locations would be charged with trespassing.
Providing the funds is legal and allows the town to regulate day laborers without violating their constitutional rights of assembly and free speech, said Mayor O'Reilly, who voted in favor of the shelter.
U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, is among those who disagree. The proposed Herndon facility and others like it are ``like a hypocrisy,'' he said in an interview. Cities and states are supposed to help the federal government enforce the law, ``and yet here are these sites, some with illegal immigrants, on public land.''
Tancredo, who said he may enter the presidential primaries in 2008 to draw attention to the immigration issue, has introduced a bill that would prevent cities with such shelters from getting federal money for homeland security. He said the bill has 204 supporters in Congress.
Governors' Race
The local newspaper, the Herndon Times, has been peppered with letters from readers on the matter. The shelter ``has to be established,'' Ruth Tatlock of Herndon wrote in August, or the scattered gatherings will continue, ``the last thing anybody wants.'' Nathan Muller, of nearby Sterling, wrote the same month that the center would subtract $50,000 to $100,000 from the value of nearby homes, citing ``some local Realtors.''
The issue has surfaced in this year's gubernatorial election in Virginia. The Republican candidate, former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, said in a statement in August that the Herndon and other proposed centers ``reward illegal behavior.'' Kilgore didn't return calls seeking comment.
His opponent, Democratic Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine, said in an interview that Kilgore is politicizing the issue and that it's up to Herndon and other towns to ``figure out what the answer is.''
`Good Policy'
The Herndon debate isn't unique. The city council of Hoover, Alabama, a Birmingham suburb, in August terminated a contract allowing faith-based groups to operate a day-laborer site in a municipal building, following complaints that many workers were gathering in front of the center. It opened in 2003.
Project Hope and Harmony plans to have its Herndon shelter up and running by December. The group's permit allows for as many as 150 people to gather daily. The site also will offer English classes to the workers, said Bill Threlkheld, the group's director.
``Project Hope and Harmony feels like we're in the limits of the law and it's good public policy,'' Threlkheld said. ``We already have a day-labor site in Herndon and it's not a very organized site,'' he said, referring to the 7-Eleven.
While others debate the matter, day laborers such as Alex Rodas, waiting outside the 7-Eleven, say the issue for them is simple. ``We just want one place to find work,'' he said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Courtney Schlisserman in Washington at [email protected].
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a8UhgJuWIz6Q&refer=us
On any weekday morning, as many as 60 Latino immigrants congregate near a 7-Eleven store in Herndon, Virginia, about 30 miles west of Washington. They are waiting for someone to drive up and offer them work for the day.
Smaller groups of the so-called day laborers gather at a McDonald's, a Shell station and a Mexican grocery. ``It has become somewhat of an eyesore and a bit of a nuisance, and a number of citizens have asked the town to do something about it,'' Herndon Mayor Michael O'Reilly said.
Herndon's response hasn't exactly doused the controversy: It plans to spend $175,000 to help build a shelter for the day laborers to wait in. The decision has triggered a lawsuit to block the plan and has made Herndon, a town of 22,000 far from the nation's borders, a microcosm of the growing U.S. debate over what to do about illegal immigrants.
``We think people are tired of the federal government not enforcing immigration laws, and we're furious that local governments aren't doing anything about it,'' said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a self-described conservative educational foundation, which has sued the town.
Fitton said his Washington-based group may broaden the suit to include Fairfax County, which has approved $400,000 in funding for shelters in Herndon and two other communities in the county.
Shelter Advocates
Supporters say day-laborer sites protect the workers and provide a way for them to find jobs without hanging around private property and blocking traffic. While immigrant advocates concede that many workers may be in the U.S. illegally, they say it's up to employers to check their status.
``This is not a public benefit to undocumented workers,'' said Flavia Jimenez, immigration policy analyst at the Washington- based National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic advocacy group in the U.S. ``We've seen many benefits to the community as a whole and then to the workers themselves in having a center,'' she said.
The workers, almost all male, are used mainly by construction companies. Some are hired by individuals for such things as painting and yard work.
Dozens of other cities have established shelters to deal with the day-labor phenomenon, according to the National Day Laborer Organizing Network in Los Angeles. Jupiter, Florida, last month approved what will be the first government-sponsored day- laborer site in Palm Beach County.
Herndon Plan
Under the Herndon plan, approved by a 5-2 council vote in August, the town would contribute its money for a shelter on the parking lot of what is now a temporary police headquarters. A coalition of faith-based groups called Project Hope and Harmony would operate the site. Workers caught soliciting at other locations would be charged with trespassing.
Providing the funds is legal and allows the town to regulate day laborers without violating their constitutional rights of assembly and free speech, said Mayor O'Reilly, who voted in favor of the shelter.
U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, is among those who disagree. The proposed Herndon facility and others like it are ``like a hypocrisy,'' he said in an interview. Cities and states are supposed to help the federal government enforce the law, ``and yet here are these sites, some with illegal immigrants, on public land.''
Tancredo, who said he may enter the presidential primaries in 2008 to draw attention to the immigration issue, has introduced a bill that would prevent cities with such shelters from getting federal money for homeland security. He said the bill has 204 supporters in Congress.
Governors' Race
The local newspaper, the Herndon Times, has been peppered with letters from readers on the matter. The shelter ``has to be established,'' Ruth Tatlock of Herndon wrote in August, or the scattered gatherings will continue, ``the last thing anybody wants.'' Nathan Muller, of nearby Sterling, wrote the same month that the center would subtract $50,000 to $100,000 from the value of nearby homes, citing ``some local Realtors.''
The issue has surfaced in this year's gubernatorial election in Virginia. The Republican candidate, former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, said in a statement in August that the Herndon and other proposed centers ``reward illegal behavior.'' Kilgore didn't return calls seeking comment.
His opponent, Democratic Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine, said in an interview that Kilgore is politicizing the issue and that it's up to Herndon and other towns to ``figure out what the answer is.''
`Good Policy'
The Herndon debate isn't unique. The city council of Hoover, Alabama, a Birmingham suburb, in August terminated a contract allowing faith-based groups to operate a day-laborer site in a municipal building, following complaints that many workers were gathering in front of the center. It opened in 2003.
Project Hope and Harmony plans to have its Herndon shelter up and running by December. The group's permit allows for as many as 150 people to gather daily. The site also will offer English classes to the workers, said Bill Threlkheld, the group's director.
``Project Hope and Harmony feels like we're in the limits of the law and it's good public policy,'' Threlkheld said. ``We already have a day-labor site in Herndon and it's not a very organized site,'' he said, referring to the 7-Eleven.
While others debate the matter, day laborers such as Alex Rodas, waiting outside the 7-Eleven, say the issue for them is simple. ``We just want one place to find work,'' he said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Courtney Schlisserman in Washington at [email protected].
) sling shingles over their shoulders & go up the ladder, while my neighbor was recently out of the hospital & still recovering. I got my neigbor's pickup parked right under the eave & stood on the tail gate, had the Mario brothers team up on a bundle of shingles to hand them to me, & I slung those bad boys up onto his roof. I had to rest every 10-15 miuntes or so, as I am not in the aerobic shape I used to be.