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Post by Libyan Sibyl on Oct 29, 2007 9:20:43 GMT -5
If you go back to News Transcript articles from the beginning of the muster zone affair, you will note that Casa Freehold was born out of some of the groups that sued the boro. Casa Freehold's members have members who are part of other groups, such as Workers Committee of Day Laborers for Social Welfare, the Monmouth County Residents for Immigrants Rights, New Jersey Civil Rights Defense Committee. Their members include Tom Baldwin, Steve Richter, Stan Organek, and illegal aliens. 2 Casa Freehold members proudly credit themselves for suing the boro, Gavrielle Gemma and Alejandro Abarca - in fact Abarca is a named plaintiff newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2005/0111/Front_page/007.htmlCasa Freehold has protested the town on several occasions. Casa Freehold also requested the Mexican government to come in to provide consular ID cards. newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2004/1102/Front_Page/005.htmlWhat Casa Freehold has said: “Town officials have been acting in a racist manner.” newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2005/0111/Front_page/026.htmlBorough Council members encourage “dangerous anti-immigrant behavior” in the community. newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2005/0111/Front_page/007.htmlThe mayor has called the group scurrilous and divisive.newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2005/0111/Front_page/007.htmlThe NT wrote: Casa Freehold, by virtue of its actions, comments and apparent support of illegal immigration, will never have, and does not deserve, the trust, respect and cooperation of borough officials. newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2005/0111/Editorials/058.htmlSo ask yourselves: why have they been brought to the table now in FB? |
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Post by Libyan Sibyl on Oct 29, 2007 9:22:50 GMT -5
A recent Editorial about Casa Freehold, immediately before the Reyes appointment. Read what Casa Freehold wants federally. I wonder what their agenda is locally...
Asbury Park Press
July 17, 2007 Tuesday
Group's moxie knows no limits
A Freehold immigrants rights group's list of what should be included in any immigration reform bill has us wondering: Are they serious?
Among the "principles" suggested by members of Casa Freehold at a forum Sunday: unconditional amnesty and immediate legalization, an end to raids and deportation, and union benefits and workers' compensation for foreign workers that are equal to what citizens receive. We're surprised they didn't also demand a free McMansion, plasma TV and SUV for every illegal family.
What an absurd sense of entitlement.
They want to give a free pass and extend more benefits to people who broke the law to get here. That would give the green light to millions more to forgo green cards and worker visas, knowing that once they get two feet over the border, they are free to start making demands.
Illegal immigration is a serious problem. Unconditionally forgiving every person who broke the law getting into this country and loosening border security are not among the answers. Neither is any immigration bill that doesn't provide for secure borders, impose stiff penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, mandate the issuance of tamper-proof national identification cards and empower local police to enforce immigration laws.
An effective immigration reform bill must end the practice of granting automatic citizenship to children born here of non-citizen parents, make it illegal for states to issue driver's licenses to people who are unable to prove they have legal status, refuse school enrollment of children whose parents can't prove legal status and withhold social services other than emergency medical care from anyone not in this country legally.
Illegal immigrants should be allowed to return home and apply for readmission as guest workers, and a limited number of guest workers with a multi-year path to citizenship should be authorized.
The economic stress placed on our hospitals, social services and school districts because of unchecked illegal immigration is well-documented. What other country would stand by while swarms of people entered the country illegally, then held marches, demonstrations and press conferences demanding their rights? And held forums insisting that the laws on the books governing illegal immigration be ignored?
Turning a blind eye to the problem, as our federal government has done for years, only encourages such arrogance. It's time to put an end to it.
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Post by Libyan Sibyl on Oct 29, 2007 9:28:05 GMT -5
FOR THOSE WITH SHORT MEMORIES
Asbury Park Press
April 1, 2004
Day laborers hail muster zone return
FREEHOLD - As dozens of Latino day laborers called for establishment of a permanent hiring hall, the workers' advocates released a letter from borough Mayor Michael Wilson yesterday that endorses the concept of a "virtual job bank."
The events came as the muster zone on Throckmorton Street reopened after a three-month shutdown by borough officials, who said the site had become a nuisance and magnet for illegal employment.
Day laborers rallied yesterday to mark the reopening, made possible by a federal court ruling last week. The workers, chanting and holding signs in English and Spanish, marched to the site from a temporary hiring hall they had been using at the Second Baptist Church.
Workers and advocates at the rally said they want to create a jobs center for all residents called Casa Freehold.
"We are still looking for a place where we can run a hiring hall," said Alejandro Abarca, a day laborer who lives in the borough and serves as a spokesman for the Committee of Workers for Progress and Social Welfare. "We have to keep going."
The mayor's office referred all questions to Borough Attorney Kerry Higgins, who could not be reached.
Mayor endorses idea
However, in a letter to Martin Perez, president of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, Mayor Wilson praised the decision of the borough's Human Relations Committee "to endorse the concept of a 'virtual job bank' and outreach program."
"I see this as a positive step toward resolving the controversy over day laborers in the community," he wrote on April 25.
The job-bank concept was proposed last month by Fatima Potente, executive director of the Hispanic Affairs and Resource Center of Monmouth County. Her agency would run a nonprofit employment agency, which would notify workers by phone of potential jobs, thereby avoiding the need for a public gathering place or private hiring hall.
The laborers could take English, computer and civic courses at the Second Baptist and Iglesia Pentecostal churches.
Wilson said in his letter that he would appoint an ad hoc group from the committee to "refine and clarify" Potente's proposal.
"The problem is a regional one, and this attempts to address it that way - not just locally, but regionally. It offers a way for workers to find legal employment opportunities at fair wages. It also provides much-needed services and programs for the entire community," Wilson wrote.
County funds sought
HARC has asked the county for $44,500 to hire a community outreach worker and rent office space in the borough.
Additionally, I Beseech Thee Community Development Corp., a part of the Second Baptist Church, requested $60,260 from the county to open a community center that would serve social, cultural and educational needs primarily of Latino residents.
The Rev. Ricky Pierce, executive director for I Beseech Thee, said his nonprofit organization hopes to rent the Masonic Temple on Avenue A, but that building is sorely in need of repair and might not be usable for a while.
Still, not everyone supports the job-bank concept.
Vanessa Minenna, a member of the grassroots organization PEOPLE, which points to undocumented workers as the source of quality-of-life problems in Freehold, said any kind of official job placement agency is a waste of money because it requires workers and contractors to register.
"Nobody wants to be documented. It's a cash business," Minenna said.
March to muster zone
The challenge for day laborers now is to transfer the sense of organization and discipline they had at the hiring hall to the open-air environment of the muster zone, said Frank Argote-Freyre, a member of the Human Relations Committee and policy adviser for the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey.
Yesterday, workers marched from Avenue A, behind the Second Baptist Church, to Avenue C and along Throckmorton to reclaim the muster zone, which is now marked by wooden stakes and an orange plastic fence.
The march and rally were covered by English- and Spanish-language media and monitored by police, who were videotaping as a precaution, said Chief Michael Beierschmitt. He noted the county Prosecutor's Office also taped the event.
One day laborer at the rally, a 25-year-old who would give only his first name, Pedro, said through a translator that he believes workers will be able to stay organized and make Casa Freehold a reality.
"This is important," he said.
Staff writer Nina Rizzo contributed to this story. Kathy Matheson: (732) 643-4230 or kmatheson@app.com
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Post by Libyan Sibyl on Oct 29, 2007 9:32:05 GMT -5
Remember those public funds the illegals sought from the above article, well they got it. I wonder if the mayor's recommendation helped.
Asbury Park Press
May 11, 2004
Job bank gets emergency state grant of $44G
FINDS WORK FOR IMMIGRANTS
The state Department of Human Services has awarded a $44,000 grant to the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey to fund the newly created Freehold job bank.
Frank Argote-Freyre, policy advisor for the association, said his group will turn over the one-time emergency state grant to the Hispanic Affairs Resource Center of Monmouth County, which runs the job bank for mostly immigrant day laborers who live in the Freehold area.
"The funds from the state Department of Human Services will permit us to put the job bank on a firm footing, while we continue to apply for funding from the state Department of Labor," Freyre said. "The funds will be used to hire an outreach coordinator to keep track of the needs of clients using the job bank. We are grateful to DHS Commissioner James Davy for coming through for the Latino community at a time of need."
The job bank is located at Second Baptist Church, Throckmorton Street. It opened last month on a shoestring budget to help alleviate hardships caused by the closing of the temporary hiring hall, which operated out of the church's Fellowship Hall from January through March.
The temporary hiring hall opened at the begining of this year when borough officials closed the so-called muster zone down the street. Borough officials said the gathering site, situated mostly on Conrail property, had become a magnet for illegal employment.
The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of two immigrant-rights groups and eight day laborers seeking to reopen the site. A federal court judge agreed the public portion of the site must be available to those who wish to haggle for a day's wage there.
The job bank was also needed, some advocates said, due to the uncertain success of the newly reopened muster zone. Day laborers began to revisit the popular gathering site on April 1, after the court directed the borough not to interfere with the lawful use of the property.
The church's I Beseech Thee Community Development Corp. is working with HARC and a host of volunteers to run employment services as well as offer English-language, computer training and civics classes.
The Rev. Ricky Pierce, executive director for I Beseech Thee, said 167 people registered for their work program, and at least a dozen of them found permanent jobs.
Freyre said operators of the job bank also will seek to recover lost wages from workers who have been cheated out of pay and keep a list of unscrupulous contractors.
Organizers still wish to extend the program to Long Branch and Asbury Park, but they need additional funds to do so, he added. HARC and three other groups aiding day laborers in their struggle to find work had requested emergency funding from the county, but those applications were rejected.
Kathleen A. Brady, director for the county's Department of Human Services, informed both groups in mid-April that she would not recommend funding at this time because, she said, the emergency situation has abated.
HARC submitted a $44,500 request in March to hire an outreach worker and rent an office. I Beseech Thee asked the county for $60,260 to rehabilitate the Masonic Temple on Avenue A so it can be used as a community center; pay rent; hire a site coordinator; run ESL classes; and advertise their services.
"As you are well aware, the issue of the closing of the muster zone and its impact on immigrant day laborers is a complex and sensitive subject," Brady wrote. "It is also an extremely fluid situation with, at times, almost daily changes. Further, a number of groups have stepped forward to represent the day laborers and to request funding assistance. It has become evident that there is a lack of consensus among these groups as to what social programs, if any, will meet the needs of the day laborers."
Gavrielle Gemma, a member of Monmouth County Residents for Immigrants Rights, visited Brady's office last month with about 15 day laborers in an effort to convince the director the county should lay gravel at the muster zone and install a canopy, portable toilets and benches on the county-owned property. Gemma asked for permission for the group to make the upgrades if the county wasn't willing to pay.
Brady wrote that the county engineer's office told her that site ranges from 1 to 4 feet immediately adjacent to the roadway.
"Locating items such as those you are requesting in such a small area would constitute a hazard and pose a liability issue," Brady told Gemma in her April 14 rejection letter.
Monmouth County Residents is aligned with the Workers Committee for Progress and Social Welfare, the group comprised of and run by local day laborers. Together, they are keeping their own list of available workers and doling out jobs as the contractors pull off the road. These advocates are also offering English classes to the workers on site.
Alejandro Abarca, coordinator for the Workers Committee, said his group is at odds with the other organizations because his members want the Masonic temple to not only serve as a community and education center but hiring hall as well. The facility they envision is called Casa Freehold, but they don't have any money to purchase such a place.
In the meantime, Abarca said, most of the workers who come to the muster zone each day find work and more than 100 men got steady seasonal work so far.
"The muster zone is a success," he said.
Nina Rizzo: (732) 308-7755 or nrizzo@app.com
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