Thread: Activists Assail Illegal Immigrants

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/06 ... _28_05.txt
June 28, 2005

Activists assail illegal immigrants
By: DEIRDRE NEWMAN - Staff Writer

TEMECULA ---- City leaders, who were set Tuesday night to discuss possible ways to deal with day laborers loitering on Butterfield Stage Road, first got an earful from activists who believe that the laborers are illegal immigrants.

The City Council had an item on its agenda to be informed about litigation involving ordinances in Southern California that restrict people from soliciting work from drivers on city or county roads. The council had not had a chance to discuss that issue before The Californian's deadline; however, several anti-illegal immigrant activists voiced their concerns during the public comment period earlier in the meeting.

The item was placed on the agenda in response to complaints brought to the council's attention at its last meeting by a representative of St. Jeanne de Lestonnac School, which is off Butterfield Stage Road, just south of Rancho California.

The city does not have an ordinance that restricts people from soliciting work from drivers, but council members wanted the item on the agenda to better understand the boundaries they would have to work within if they consider restrictions for a part of Butterfield Stage Road, south of Rancho California Road. The western side of the road is in the city; the eastern side of the road is under the county's authority.

Council members also may ultimately consider an ordinance prohibiting loitering near schools, which would cover the entire city, Councilman Mike Naggar said recently.

Holly Wardrop, vice president of the Catholic school's parent-teacher group, told the council June 14 that the number of day laborers frequenting the area of Butterfield Stage Road near the school has increased recently to more than 30.

As a result, school officials are concerned about the day laborers' proximity to the students, who range from preschoolers through eighth-graders, and about the day laborers' cars that block visibility of traffic for people leaving the school. Parents, children and a teacher also have said they have seen some of the day laborers urinating publicly near the school.

At the council meeting Tuesday, Mayor Jeff Comerchero asked any members of the public who wanted to speak on the issue, but were going to focus their comments on illegal immigration exclusively, to do so at the beginning of the meeting during the public comment period. He said it would be "inappropriate" for talk of illegal immigrants to dominate the council discussion.

Five activists spoke, accusing the day laborers of being illegal immigrants. The activists, who are a part of a group that stages protests on Butterfield Stage Road against illegal immigrants, also offered some solutions to prevent the loitering.

Freeman Sawyer, one of the those who addressed the council, said what the day laborers are doing by standing on the sidewalk and soliciting work is tantamount to prostitution.

"If there were illegal alien women and they were soliciting as prostitutes, I have no doubt Temecula would clean it up in 15 seconds," Sawyer said. "There should be equal treatment for men. They are violating laws."

Sawyer suggested using undercover cops to bust illegal immigrant day laborers and for the police to examine any Social Security cards the day laborers have to verify if they are authentic.

Robin Hvidston from Upland said targeting employers, as the activists do, is the way to go. She suggested the employers use temporary staffing agencies such as Manpower to find able-bodied workers.

The council's discussion was set to focus on litigation because the cities of Glendale and Redondo Beach and Los Angeles County have had their roadway solicitation ordinances challenged in federal court, a city staff report states.

In May, a federal judge permanently prohibited enforcement of the Glendale ordinance as unconstitutionally vague because it didn't make clear where the curb ends and the sidewalk begins and it didn't make obvious that solicitations were allowed on the sidewalk, the city report states.

Los Angeles County's similar ordinance was invalidated by a federal judge in 2000; and in Redondo Beach, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in December 2004, preventing the city from enforcing its ordinance pending a trial, according to the report.

Contact staff writer Deirdre Newman at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2623, or dnewman@californian.com.

Parents, children and a teacher also have said they have seen some of the day laborers urinating publicly near the school.

GROSS!!! Welcome to the "New America"! Thanks Jorge!