Thread: NY: Homeless IAs living in woods in wealthy Hamptons

Perhaps Chief Wilson should consider calling ICE.
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nypost.com
HOMELESS IN HAMPTONS
NO-JOB LABORERS CAMP NEAR MANSIONS
By SELIM ALGAR

April 20, 2009 --
They are homeless in the Hamptons.

No longer able to find work, Hispanic day laborers have forged a hidden network of about 20 cleared wooded campgrounds in the shadow of million-dollar Southampton homes, The Post has learned.

In one area, just blocks from Saks Fifth Avenue and Intermix stores, a butchered deer carcass rots near beds made of stacked Budweiser boxes. Tattered blankets and plastic vodka bottles are piled near charred campfire remains -- a scene repeated throughout the sprawling area.

"There is no work, no money," said Manuel Hernandez, a 34-year-old native of Puebla, Mexico, as he sat in the Southampton woods on a broken boom box. "When I went across the border, I know it was wrong. But I don't fight, I don't steal. I only came here to work."

His friend Carlos said that he has spent nights shivering in the woods during the harsh winter months. He said the vast majority of the nearly two dozen workers living in the woods are in the country illegally and are hesitant to enter shelters for fear of detection.

The squalor begins a mere 30 feet from a pair of handsome summer spreads and their shimmering pools. "That's just shocking," said the Manhattan-based owner of one the homes. "I had no idea."

Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley has come under pressure from angry residents to address the crowds of day laborers who gather at the gateway to the tony area each morning.

"With the economy the way it is, there's just no work for these guys anymore," said Epley. "They're stuck."

A hamlet that boasts world-class estates and famed residents like author Tom Wolfe and designer Calvin Klein is suddenly debating unglamorous issues like the establishment of a free-food program for day laborers.

"I've gotten death threats over this," Epley said. "People are worried about their property values, and business owners say they're suffering because of it."

When the area's booming real-estate market collapsed, demand for labor all but vanished. Workers who used to earn enough money to rent homes in the area now find themselves penniless. The camp sits on property owned by the Southampton Full Gospel Church.

Southampton Police Chief William Wilson said his officers check on the area periodically and that several arrests have been made. "There really isn't much we can do," he said. "Our hands are tied on this."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04202009/ne ... 165239.htm

Well, when they leave the sanctuary property of the Full Gospel Church and harass residents for work, they should be fair game for arrest. And if the police do not have authority or the temerity, they better get some 287g training.

This really gets OLD! Everyone has an excuse why they do not get rid of these people who are here ILLEGALLY. There are laws on vagrants and loitering and pan handling. They know they are illegal to boot! Even without work and jobs they still refuse to leave. I think they need help finding the door!

The shelters here will not anyone to stay there, if they have not had a TB screen. Illegals wont get one or they can't pass one.

Why aren't they all hanging out at those churches that lobby for them and offer sanctuary for illegal aliens?

Dixie