<p>There isn’t a day that goes by that someone in the media states outright, or hints that America is a bad country . They should read the article highlighted below! The interpretation I leave to my fellow CC members…</p>
<p>Day Workers Thrust Virginia Town Into Illegal-Immigration Fight
2005-10-07 00:17 (New York)</p>
<p>By Courtney Schlisserman
Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) – 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. <code>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.
</code>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.</p>
<pre><code> Shelter Advocates
Supporters say day-laborer sites protect the workers and
</code></pre>
<p>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.
<code>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.</code>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.</p>
<pre><code> Herndon Plan
Under the Herndon plan, approved by a 5-2 council vote in
</code></pre>
<p>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 <code>like a hypocrisy,‘’ he said in an interview.
Cities and states are supposed to help the federal government
enforce the law,</code>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.</p>
<pre><code> Governors’ Race
The local newspaper, the Herndon Times, has been peppered
</code></pre>
<p>with letters from readers on the matter. The shelter <code>has to be
established,‘’ Ruth Tatlock of Herndon wrote in August, or the
scattered gatherings will continue,</code>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 <code>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</code>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,
</code></pre>
<p>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.
<code>Project Hope and Harmony feels like we're in the limits of
the law and it's good public policy,'' Threlkheld said.</code>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.</p>
<p>--Editors: Winski, Todd.</p>