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06-27-2007, 09:11 AM #1
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)
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06-27-2007, 09:28 AM #2The 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.""The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" ** Edmund Burke**
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06-27-2007, 09:40 AM #3
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.
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06-27-2007, 09:42 AM #4
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?Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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06-27-2007, 09:46 AM #5
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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
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06-27-2007, 09:50 AM #6
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)
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06-27-2007, 09:51 AM #7
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06-27-2007, 09:53 AM #8
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)
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06-27-2007, 09:54 AM #9
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Originally Posted by RockfishTo stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men. Abraham Lincoln
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06-27-2007, 09:56 AM #10
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.
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Laura Loomer - Woke up this morning to a @nytimes article...
03-27-2024, 11:36 PM in General Discussion