http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qst ... k3MDI1MzEx

Immigration reform is just a bus ride away

Monday, November 27, 2006

By ALFRED P. DOBLIN
RECORD COLUMNIST


I take the 165 Express NJ Transit bus to Hackensack most mornings. When my schedule is off, I take the local. It's a long bus ride because it stops all the time. Generally the bus is not crowded until near Fairview. There, lots of men, I assume day laborers, fill the bus. Many exit near the Valley Fair Department Store in Little Ferry.

During the summer, when I took the 165 home, it always was the local. The bus emptied, almost completely, near Fairview. Again, the men appeared to be day workers by the way they were dressed and, because it was summer, by the smell of hard labor. Most spoke Spanish. I can't say whether they were documented or undocumented immigrants.

Earlier this month, the Borough of Freehold settled a nearly three-year legal battle with an immigrant rights group. The borough had been fining day laborers for loitering, among other violations. At the crux of the legal battle was a "muster zone," a designated area where the men could congregate and look for work. The borough does not have to agree to a muster zone but must allow the men to assemble on public property looking for work.

In the City of Passaic, there have been similar tensions. Day laborers were congregating near a Home Depot, the city was cracking down on them and the laborers marched on City Hall. Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera promised to help them find a hiring hall.


Immigration is a problem in America; it's a problem in North Jersey. In some communities it's easier to see than in others, but day laborers are lining up looking for work not all that far from some exclusive residential enclaves. Lots and sidewalks, often near businesses like Home Depot, begin to resemble homeless depots, with men milling about waiting for jobs. They are paid on the cheap, and that is what attracts employers. However, only blaming day laborers is a knee-jerk response to a full-bodied problem.

Employers and landlords

Employers -- and in many cases the employers are people like you and me who need a hole dug, a room painted or furniture moved -- don't care whether the people hired are here legally. Landlords don't care if they crowd dozens of immigrants into apartments created for single families.

The people profiting from illegal immigration are not just undocumented immigrants. The people losing money because of illegal immigration are not just low-skilled U.S. workers. It's a win-win/lose-lose combination. Dollars are changing hands, but at too high a price.

The federal government must step in and do its job. Enforcing U.S. immigration laws is not the function of local law enforcement agencies. There are federal laws against hiring undocumented immigrants. Those laws should be enforced. Current immigration laws need reforming and that is a job for Congress, not borough hall.

Municipalities have zoning laws that prohibit illegal apartments. Those ordinances should be enforced. What should not happen -- and what clearly is happening in New Jersey and elsewhere -- is to take immigration policy into our own hands.

If I lived near a "muster zone," I would not be happy. If I were a parent, I would be concerned about any location filled with men with time on their hands. However, what are the alternatives? Mass deportation? How often do you see neighbors raking leaves? The ubiquitous day laborer with a leaf-blowing contraption is as much a fixture of the Jersey suburban landscape as the SUV. We cannot play immigration vigilante and hypocrite at the same time. The parts do not match.

Search for solutions

Municipalities should be pro-active in finding locations for hiring halls and muster zones that do not threaten the quality of their lives or put children in a perceived risk. Municipalities should also heavily fine and prosecute landlords who repeatedly violate zoning laws. Twelve people in an apartment is not an immigration issue, it's a public safety issue.

The laborers coming and going from the 165 bus are always smiling. I do not know why. They pay their bus fares and, at night, disappear into the streets of places like Fairview to reappear the next morning. I have no idea what their lives are like, where or how they live.

The local bus makes too many stops; it's not very convenient for me. For some folks, it's probably the most relaxing part of their day.

Alfred P. Doblin is the editorial page editor of The Record. Contact him at doblin@northjersey.com.