Thread: CA: Workers change location after Lake Forest crackdown

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/ho ... 554590.php

Thursday, January 25, 2007
Workers change location after Lake Forest crackdown
By RITA FREEMAN, AMANDA GLOWISH and VALERIA GODINES
The Orange County Register
Lake Forest property owners and city officials are thrilled that a new ordinance and security guard have greatly reduced the number of day laborers gathering to seek work in their city.

But the workers haven't disappeared. They've gone next door to Mission Viejo.

Day laborers, as a result of Lake Forest's recent measures, are moving from Jeronimo Road and Orange Avenue in Lake Forest to Jeronimo and Los Alisos Boulevard in Mission Viejo.

"It's calmer here," said Mariano, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, who now looks for work in Mission Viejo. "They give us permission to stand here, and there are less people." The Register has a policy to use only the first names of immigrants if they fear deportation.

But Mission Viejo officials are wary and plan to consider an ordinance, similar to that of Lake Forest. It goes to the council Feb. 5.

Earlier this month the number of day laborers who congregate in Mission Viejo was steadily increasing. At its peak there were up to 60 day laborers soliciting work on the corner, according to Lt. Stephen Bernardi, Mission Viejo chief of police services.

"We anticipated there would be an increase, and it hit its peak," said Bernardi. "The numbers are back down to where they were before."

The decline in the number of day laborers this week can partly be attributed to a steady police presence in the area where they congregate, Bernardi said.

But at least one nearby business says the number of day laborers at his Mission Viejo gas station has doubled.

For about 15 years, the day laborers in Lake Forest have sparked debate. Critics say they urinate in public, litter, drink in public and harass passers-by.

The Lake Forest City Council in October passed a citywide no-trespassing law stating that a property owner or someone designated by the owner can file a complaint with the Sheriff's Department if a trespasser refuses to leave the property. No-trespassing signs must be posted throughout the property. Violators can be cited or arrested.

Some property owners around the unofficial day laborer site, on Jeronimo Road, Orange and Cherry Avenues, hired private security to enforce the no-trespassing law.

And the no-trespassing law seems to be working.

Two men were arrested last Saturday during a protest for the right to solicit work on the sidewalk. The security guard warned them to leave the private property, Lt. Jay LeFlore, Lake Forest chief of police services, said. After booking and an immigration check, the protesters were cited and released.

LeFlore said there is an ongoing effort to communicate with the day workers about the law.

"I knew it was going to work, but this was larger success than I anticipated," said Lake Forest Mayor Richard Dixon.

Mission Viejo officials, meanwhile, want to combat what residents and area business owners see as a growing problem.

"It made a difference in Lake Forest; it moved the problem down. We will take a similar action, and I don't know where they (the laborers) will go from here," said Mission Viejo Mayor Gail Reavis. "I don't pass laws for other cities. I make resolutions that affect our city."

Whatever ordinance city officials pass, some experts say, it's unlikely to work in the long run.

"The ordinances are just shifting the problem around," said Leo Chavez, professor of anthropology at UC Irvine. "They are moving from one corner to that corner. In reality, it becomes a floating labor supply."

In the city of Orange, which has seen its share of debates over day laborers, Mayor Carolyn Cavecche said it's "like squishing Jell-O. You crack down on one area and they move to another."

At the day worker center in Laguna Beach, the numbers are steadily rising, said David Peck, president of the South County Cultural Council, which oversees the center. Many who used to get work at the center have returned since the closing of Costa Mesa's facility and the crackdown in Lake Forest.

"It's a fluid population," Peck said. "They get different kinds of work and have different connections. Since the closing of the Costa Mesa (center) and the actions of Lake Forest, we're the last game in town."

Concerns are arising in Mission Viejo. Residents say they feel intimidated by the workers, and traffic backs up when employers stop their vehicles to pick up laborers.

"Some customers complain and don't feel OK with them standing there," said Luis Fernandez, manager of a Shell gas station where the day laborers congregate. He's noticed an increase since the Lake Forest law passed, from about a half-dozen workers gathered each day to more than a dozen.

Other Mission Viejo residents say they are not bothered by the presence of the day laborers. Cheryle Clark's child attends Apple Tree Montessori School, which is near where the day laborers gather.

"It doesn't bother me. I commend them for getting out and trying to find work," said Clark.For some business owners in the industrial area on Jeronimo, it's just wait-and-see.

"It's just bad and we're losing customers in this area," said Nancy Matsuoka, part owner of the Laguna Hills Nursery, near the Lake Forest day laborer site. "We're hoping having the security guard will keep the numbers down. It's just inappropriate to have that many people around harassing customers. It's not a place for them to pick up work and not a place to hang around. They should go to a job agency."

Send ICE quick

At its peak there were up to 60 day laborers soliciting work on the corner, according to Lt. Stephen Bernardi, Mission Viejo chief of police services.

60 illegals in one spot everyday and what does ICE do? Nothing, of course. I wonder what would happen if 60 child molesters hung out at the same playground everyday, would they get a free pass?

Unfortunately this is going to happen for awhile; until we take our country back if we have to do it one city at a time! We have to empower local law enforcement everywhere to check immigration status and make arrests.

It never ceases to amaze me how much energy and ingenuity some people put into evading the law, complaining about the law, etc. If they funneled this energy back into Mexico, they could do so much to improve the quality of life in their home country they profess to love so much. But the fact remains, that as difficult as we try to make it here, it's still better than there...