http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... an/3328057

Aug. 28, 2005, 10:15AM

Minutemen influence claimed
Organizers close a meeting to the media because the day laborers are said to be fearful
By EDWARD HEGSTROM
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The Minutemen aren't scheduled to patrol the streets of Houston for another month, but already they're having an effect among day laborers.

A day labor organizational meeting scheduled for Saturday had to be closed to the media because the workers are afraid, organizers said.

The leaders also say they have noticed that fewer contractors are picking up workers from the corners where day laborers, most of them undocumented immigrants, gather, which they also attribute to fear of the Minutemen.

"They're very scared," Maria Jimenez, a leader of the Coalition Against Intolerance and for Respect, said of the workers.

The coalition organized the meeting Saturday so that day laborers would have the chance to meet with Francisco Pacheco from the National Day Labor Organizing Network, a group based in Los Angeles.

Jimenez said she could not estimate how many day laborers would be able to attend the meeting.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, an Arizona group calling for reduced illegal immigration, has announced that it will begin Operation Spotlight in Houston this October. Minuteman volunteers will observe day laborers and write down the license plate numbers of the contractors who pick them up.

"The situation here is becoming more delicate," Pacheco said after touring day-labor sites Friday.


Response to arrival
He said Saturday's talks were to focus on educating workers on their rights, and coaching them on how to respond to the arrival of the Minutemen.

"The correct response, of course, is nonviolent," he said.

Having worked in areas such as Long Island, New York, where conflicts have risen between residents and day laborers, Pacheco said he thinks such tension hurts an area. "It divides a community," he said.

In addition to a drop in contractors, Jimenez said she has noted that some day laborers have abandoned their usual corners, which she thinks is driven by fear. She and other organizers concede that it might encourage the Minutemen even more to hear they're already having an effect.

"This is already starting," Juan Alvarez, another leader of the coalition, said of the fear. "We can't reverse it."