ACLU Tries To Block Release Of Day-Labor Employer Names

POSTED: 1:10 pm PDT July 6, 2007

VISTA, Calif. -- The American Civil Liberties Union asked a judge Friday to stop the city from releasing the names, addresses and phone numbers of people who employ day laborers.

The move was a response to a public records request filed with the city on June 28 by Mike Spencer, the leader of an anti-illegal immigration group called the Vista Citizens Brigade.

Spencer asked the city for the list of employers who have registered to hire day laborers under a municipal ordinance that took effect last year, according to the ACLU. The list has 111 names on it, city officials have said.

The suit against the city was filed in Vista Superior Court on behalf of four unnamed employers.

David Blair-Loy, legal director of the ACLU's San Diego and Imperial counties chapter, said people who argue that day-labor hiring promotes illegal immigration may use the personal information to harass employers.

City Attorney Darold Pieper said the city would have to release the names by the end of business Monday, barring court intervention.

Vista, a city of 95,000 people about 30 miles north of San Diego, requires people who hire temporary workers off the street to register with the city, display permits in their car windows and present workers with written terms of employment.

The ordinance also states that information submitted to the city by prospective employers will be public record.

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