Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 15

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member swatchick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Miami, Florida
    Posts
    5,232

    Home Depot Asks for Help Re: Day Laborers

    This is long overdue.

    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nation ... 7877.story

    Immigration Amendment Aimed at Day Labor

    By BEN EVANS
    Associated Press Writer
    Posted June 27 2007, 3:24 AM EDT


    WASHINGTON -- Home Depot is tired of being forced by local governments to accommodate the day laborers who turn up in its store parking lots seeking construction work. So the Georgia-based company turned to Congress for help.

    The Senate could respond this week by attaching language to the immigration bill that would prohibit city councils from requiring home improvement stores to pay for shelters or other services to help maintain orderly day labor sites.

    The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., is designed to curtail a practice in the California communities of Mountain View and Burbank, where city councils recently have forced Home Depot to build facilities for day laborers onsite or elsewhere, hire security staff and offer bathrooms in order to get the permits necessary for its operations.

    Local governments in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities, including in Illinois and Washington, D.C., have imposed or are considering similar measures.

    The local mandates, Isakson says, are a costly intrusion for home improvement stores. Services for day laborers, he said in an interview, should be the responsibility of local governments, and forcing specific companies to provide services as a condition of obtaining permits amounts to "extortion."

    "Yes, the local government is having to deal with the problem, but the root of the problem is the federal government's lack of enforcement on the southern border," Isakson said.

    Others say the home improvement companies do have a responsibility to maintain safety and prevent nuisances among the labor markets they attract. Besides, they say, it isn't Washington's business.

    "The overriding issue to me is it's all about Congress reaching way deep ... into the city level and legislating in areas where they really have no business legislating," said Laura Macias, mayor of Mountain View, Calif., near San Jose. "We are not a one-size-fits-all country. There are different matters and different needs that cities have."

    Home Depot spokesman Ron DeFeo said day labor concerns have arisen in only a small percentage of the company's roughly 2,200 stores. In those cases, he said, the company works with local officials to develop solutions.

    "We understand it's an issue in certain places and that's why we've been meeting with local governments in those markets," DeFeo said. "But we just don't think it's sustainable for us to address the issue alone."

    Mountain View is considering a proposal to require Home Depot to pay $250,000 toward a permanent day labor center and to establish an educational outreach program for workers and contractors before building a store there. The city of Burbank required the company to build a similar hiring center at its store that opened last year and to provide the city with $94,000 to cover the costs of additional services.

    Macias said local governments impose requirements on developers all the time based on specific, case-by-case needs.

    "Once you're part of a community, there are land-use responsibilities, whether it's a center for day workers or traffic congestion remedies or park fees," she said. "To have it always fall back on the cities, that comes back on the taxpayers and it just doesn't seem fair."

    "If you want to build and make tons of money from our community, we're going to want something in return," Macias said.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  2. #2
    MW
    MW is offline
    Senior Member MW's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    25,717
    The local mandates, Isakson says, are a costly intrusion for home improvement stores. Services for day laborers, he said in an interview, should be the responsibility of local governments, and forcing specific companies to provide services as a condition of obtaining permits amounts to "extortion."
    How true. Furthermore, who wants to shop at a store with groups of non-English speaking illegals loitering around? No business should be forced to cater to illegal immigrants. I realize not all day laborers are illegal, but unfortunately it seems a vast majority of them are these days. Forcing a business to cater to illegals is the same as forcing the business to aid and abet illegal immigrants, which is against the law!

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" ** Edmund Burke**

    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts athttps://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  3. #3
    Senior Member sippy's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Posts
    3,798
    Wouldn't it be cheaper to pick up the phone and call ICE?
    "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results is the definition of insanity. " Albert Einstein.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Rockfish's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    From FLA to GA as of 04/01/07
    Posts
    6,640
    I agree, they would be a nusance whether they were legall or not. However, if they spoke English, there would still be a problem. That many guys hanging around looking for work--would be a nusance to customers. It would be like the local union hall where tradesmen gather waiting on work to come in. This is not Home Depot's responsibility.

    Furthermore, who wants to shop at a store with groups of non-English speaking illegals loitering around?
    Nor is it a language issue.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    205
    Why doesn't HD enforce 'no loitering' on their property? Could it be 2 sided, they don't want to be forced to provide shelter but they don't try to stop the day laborers from gathering in their parking lot.
    To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men. Abraham Lincoln

  6. #6
    Senior Member Rockfish's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    From FLA to GA as of 04/01/07
    Posts
    6,640
    How would they decifer who is a labor and who is a customer? They wouldn't be able to hire security to make those calls. They would be profiling. Even if the mamagers got out there in the parking lot and tried to run them off, how will they decide to run off without profiling?
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  7. #7
    JadedBaztard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Posts
    639
    They want to have their cake and eat it too.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Rockfish's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    From FLA to GA as of 04/01/07
    Posts
    6,640
    portaltotx--I see your point--anyone hangin around, be it customer or worker, would be asked to move along--excellent suggestion. You should contact HD Supply here in Atlanta and tell them to enforce no loitering.

    The only problem I can see with that is that they may not want to hire security to do that.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    205
    Quote Originally Posted by Rockfish
    How would they decifer who is a labor and who is a customer? They wouldn't be able to hire security to make those calls. They would be profiling. Even if the mamagers got out there in the parking lot and tried to run them off, how will they decide to run off without profiling?
    I'm sorry but here in Houston it is obvious. They are standing at the entrance of the parking lot and HD's have big parking lots. When you turn into a HD in a pickup, laborers immediately start walking towards you.
    To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men. Abraham Lincoln

  10. #10
    Senior Member Rockfish's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    From FLA to GA as of 04/01/07
    Posts
    6,640
    No, I think enforcing No Loitering is the way to go, and they should be able to get the local police to do this, you know, a local squad car here, one there..that would do it.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •