Post by Freehold Resident on Aug 4, 2006 8:55:44 GMT -5
Cities tackle day labor dilemma
By Emily Bazar and Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY
FREEHOLD, N.J. — Every day, Joe Boguslawski watches the workers gather around his shop.
Men wait outside a 7-Eleven store in a Washington suburb hoping to be picked up for work.
By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY
They arrive as early as 5 a.m. and line busy Throckmorton Street. One by one, they jump into pickups and SUVs, hired on the spot for painting, dry wall, landscaping and other odd jobs. Others linger into the afternoon hoping for a late-day assignment.
Boguslawski says the day laborers are hurting his motorcycle parts and accessories business, Mr. Cycle Parts.
"I don't have regular foot traffic anymore," Boguslawski, 46, said. "That doesn't exist."
Day laborers that crowd intersections and parking lots are perhaps the most visible examples of illegal immigration. The Center for the Study of Urban Poverty at the University of California, Los Angeles, estimates there are more than 100,000 of these workers across the United States.
Though they make up a fraction of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, day laborers have sparked a backlash pitting neighbor against neighbor in communities large and small. (Related story: Illegal workers found at La. base)
While some groups try to ease the workers' conditions and help them find work, there has been a recent spate of actions by residents and local officials intent on pushing the workers out rather than wait for federal authorities to enforce immigration laws:
• In the next two weeks, civilian patrols plan to begin taking down license plate numbers of employers who hire workers in Herndon, Va.
• City officials in Freehold have asked the state Labor Department to look into contractors who hire illegal immigrants.
• In Hoover, Ala., a center that provided services to day laborers and acted as a hiring hall has been shut down.
The apparent goal in each community is to pressure the workers and those that hire them to go elsewhere.
"If the employers stop coming around to the day labor sites, the day labor sites go away," said George Taplin of Herndon.
Affluent neighborhood
Freehold Borough is an aging suburb in central New Jersey, best known as Bruce Springsteen's hometown. It is small, with about 11,000 people.
But on all sides, towns are sprouting pricey "McMansions": mini-castles with turrets, three-car garages and gated driveways. The artificial ponds, football-field-sized lawns and sculpted beds of impatiens demand attention.
"Surrounding us completely, there's a sphere of ... affluence," said Joseph Bellina, borough administrator. "That's where the work goes."
Every day, laborers gather before dawn at several locations, including the busy intersection of Throckmorton and Main streets. When an employer drives up, the men swarm the vehicle.
"There's been lots of problems with noise and some cat-calling," said Freehold resident Marc LeVine, 49, who since being interviewed was appointed to serve on the Borough Council. "No one came to us and asked if we wanted this to be the central job depot for western Monmouth County."
LeVine helped found a group called PEOPLE (Pressing Elected Officials to Protect our Living Environment). The group wants the laws barring illegal immigration enforced against the workers and the locals who hire them.
The Freehold Borough Council is aggressively inspecting and regulating rental properties and directing police to ticket drivers who impede traffic when pulling over to hire laborers.
In May, Freehold officials wrote down the license plate numbers of employers hiring day laborers and sent the information to New Jersey's labor department, "to make sure they're paying their taxes," Bellina said.
A lawsuit is pending in federal court over some of the borough's moves. Two groups that advocate for immigrant rights sued. The sides are in mediation.
'There's a lot of ...humiliation'
Under a dark morning sky, Victor Nunez shoves his hands in his pockets and leans against the wall of a 7-Eleven.
Nunez, 33, is among dozens in a parking lot in Herndon hoping for jobs. He knows many here in this suburb 20 miles from Washington, D.C., see him and the other men hanging out here as an eyesore. He sees himself as someone looking for a day's pay.
"There's a lot of suffering and humiliation," Nunez says. "It would be better to have support."
The support he is alluding to is a center, a shelter where day laborers can congregate, stay warm and get help from activists and residents.
In Herndon, the Town Council in August approved plans for a day laborer hiring site. A coalition of non-profit and community groups called Project Hope and Harmony has applied for a grant of up to $175,000 from Fairfax County to cover start-up costs.
After the vote, Judicial Watch, a public-interest law firm, sued Herndon and Fairfax County. The firm says federal law prohibits employers from hiring the workers and that public money cannot be spent on illegal immigration.
The debate is exploding.
"As the day laborer phenomenon has grown, worker centers have become the dominant strategy," says Nikolas Theodore, director of the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "In the last month or so, this issue has heated up intensely. People are starting to question the strategy."
Leaders in Hoover, Ala., shut down a multicultural resource center in August that was housed in a municipal building and served as a day labor hiring hall.
"When you have different individuals and companies coming by in their trucks and picking up laborers and taking them to jobs — knowing they're illegal and paying them cash — we're promoting ... black-market activity," Mayor Tony Petelos said.
This summer, Arizona passed a law banning the building or maintaining of centers that facilitate the hiring of illegal immigrants. In Herndon, a group calling itself the Herndon Minutemen plans to begin patrolling day laborer hiring spots. They will snap photos of workers and employers who pick them up and send the information to immigration officials and federal and state tax bureaus, said Taplin, a founder. Despite the opposition, workers seem determined to remain.
"Sometimes the words hurt," said Freehold day laborer Sodel Peña. "But you have to work because you need money for your family in Mexico."
By Emily Bazar and Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY
FREEHOLD, N.J. — Every day, Joe Boguslawski watches the workers gather around his shop.
Men wait outside a 7-Eleven store in a Washington suburb hoping to be picked up for work.
By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY
They arrive as early as 5 a.m. and line busy Throckmorton Street. One by one, they jump into pickups and SUVs, hired on the spot for painting, dry wall, landscaping and other odd jobs. Others linger into the afternoon hoping for a late-day assignment.
Boguslawski says the day laborers are hurting his motorcycle parts and accessories business, Mr. Cycle Parts.
"I don't have regular foot traffic anymore," Boguslawski, 46, said. "That doesn't exist."
Day laborers that crowd intersections and parking lots are perhaps the most visible examples of illegal immigration. The Center for the Study of Urban Poverty at the University of California, Los Angeles, estimates there are more than 100,000 of these workers across the United States.
Though they make up a fraction of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, day laborers have sparked a backlash pitting neighbor against neighbor in communities large and small. (Related story: Illegal workers found at La. base)
While some groups try to ease the workers' conditions and help them find work, there has been a recent spate of actions by residents and local officials intent on pushing the workers out rather than wait for federal authorities to enforce immigration laws:
• In the next two weeks, civilian patrols plan to begin taking down license plate numbers of employers who hire workers in Herndon, Va.
• City officials in Freehold have asked the state Labor Department to look into contractors who hire illegal immigrants.
• In Hoover, Ala., a center that provided services to day laborers and acted as a hiring hall has been shut down.
The apparent goal in each community is to pressure the workers and those that hire them to go elsewhere.
"If the employers stop coming around to the day labor sites, the day labor sites go away," said George Taplin of Herndon.
Affluent neighborhood
Freehold Borough is an aging suburb in central New Jersey, best known as Bruce Springsteen's hometown. It is small, with about 11,000 people.
But on all sides, towns are sprouting pricey "McMansions": mini-castles with turrets, three-car garages and gated driveways. The artificial ponds, football-field-sized lawns and sculpted beds of impatiens demand attention.
"Surrounding us completely, there's a sphere of ... affluence," said Joseph Bellina, borough administrator. "That's where the work goes."
Every day, laborers gather before dawn at several locations, including the busy intersection of Throckmorton and Main streets. When an employer drives up, the men swarm the vehicle.
"There's been lots of problems with noise and some cat-calling," said Freehold resident Marc LeVine, 49, who since being interviewed was appointed to serve on the Borough Council. "No one came to us and asked if we wanted this to be the central job depot for western Monmouth County."
LeVine helped found a group called PEOPLE (Pressing Elected Officials to Protect our Living Environment). The group wants the laws barring illegal immigration enforced against the workers and the locals who hire them.
The Freehold Borough Council is aggressively inspecting and regulating rental properties and directing police to ticket drivers who impede traffic when pulling over to hire laborers.
In May, Freehold officials wrote down the license plate numbers of employers hiring day laborers and sent the information to New Jersey's labor department, "to make sure they're paying their taxes," Bellina said.
A lawsuit is pending in federal court over some of the borough's moves. Two groups that advocate for immigrant rights sued. The sides are in mediation.
'There's a lot of ...humiliation'
Under a dark morning sky, Victor Nunez shoves his hands in his pockets and leans against the wall of a 7-Eleven.
Nunez, 33, is among dozens in a parking lot in Herndon hoping for jobs. He knows many here in this suburb 20 miles from Washington, D.C., see him and the other men hanging out here as an eyesore. He sees himself as someone looking for a day's pay.
"There's a lot of suffering and humiliation," Nunez says. "It would be better to have support."
The support he is alluding to is a center, a shelter where day laborers can congregate, stay warm and get help from activists and residents.
In Herndon, the Town Council in August approved plans for a day laborer hiring site. A coalition of non-profit and community groups called Project Hope and Harmony has applied for a grant of up to $175,000 from Fairfax County to cover start-up costs.
After the vote, Judicial Watch, a public-interest law firm, sued Herndon and Fairfax County. The firm says federal law prohibits employers from hiring the workers and that public money cannot be spent on illegal immigration.
The debate is exploding.
"As the day laborer phenomenon has grown, worker centers have become the dominant strategy," says Nikolas Theodore, director of the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "In the last month or so, this issue has heated up intensely. People are starting to question the strategy."
Leaders in Hoover, Ala., shut down a multicultural resource center in August that was housed in a municipal building and served as a day labor hiring hall.
"When you have different individuals and companies coming by in their trucks and picking up laborers and taking them to jobs — knowing they're illegal and paying them cash — we're promoting ... black-market activity," Mayor Tony Petelos said.
This summer, Arizona passed a law banning the building or maintaining of centers that facilitate the hiring of illegal immigrants. In Herndon, a group calling itself the Herndon Minutemen plans to begin patrolling day laborer hiring spots. They will snap photos of workers and employers who pick them up and send the information to immigration officials and federal and state tax bureaus, said Taplin, a founder. Despite the opposition, workers seem determined to remain.
"Sometimes the words hurt," said Freehold day laborer Sodel Peña. "But you have to work because you need money for your family in Mexico."