Thread: Day labor draws protest in Oregon

http://www.forestgrovenewstimes.com

Day labor draws protest
By Mateusz Perkowski

The Forest Grove News-Times


To some, it was a righteous stand for the American way of life.

For others, it was nothing but a shameless act of demagoguery.

Either way you look at it, the protest against illegal immigration in Cornelius last Saturday was a local manifestation of the larger debate heating up across the nation: Are undocumented workers necessary for the economy, or do they simply drain public resources?

“It’s against the law to hire an illegal alien,” said Jim Ludwick, president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform (OIR). The McMinnville group organized the protest across the street from the Centro Cultural community center, where day laborers often gather.

Day labor sites are nothing but an easy way to connect unprincipled bosses with undocumented workers, he added. “They short-circuit all the regular processes that a regular employer would go through to hire an employee.”

Jorge Estrada, a Re/Max Realtor who supplied day laborers with sign-making materials to oppose the protesters’ statements, believes the demonstration in Cornelius wasn’t about upholding the law, but demonizing an ethnic minority.

“What I’ve seen from the people there, they were advocating racism,” he said. “I’d rather not see these people in the neighborhood.”

Despite the tension between the two groups, the protest went down without violence or any other serious incidents, said Cornelius Chief of Police Paul Rubenstein. “We didn’t make any arrests or issue any citations.”

In the past, Cornelius residents have contacted police about drinking, fighting, and harassment at the site behind the Centro Cultural building. The calls came from Cornelius residents, including Latinos, said Rubenstein. “All the complaints I’ve received have had to do with behavior, not day labor issues.”

The problem OIR has with the site, on the other hand, is that both the laborers and the contractors who pick them up have a blatant disregard for employment law, said Ludwick, which works against honest employers who abide by workman’s comp and tax rules.

“Let’s say you’re a contractor who’s very scrupulous and hires only citizens and legal immigrants. However, your competitors pay under the table, and can get jobs by bidding for lower than you are,” he said. “It’s unfair for American businesses to compete with people who do that.”

Ludwick’s organization has organized demonstrations in Cornelius several times before. The objective isn’t only to raise public awareness of the illegal immigration issue, he said, but also to discourage prospective employers from hiring the laborers.

“If someone came up and engaged them in conversation, we’d take photos” of their license plates and company names, Ludwick said. The pictures are displayed on an OIR-affiliated website, http://www.danielisright.blogspot.com.

According to Estrada, however, many day laborers are legal residents who work in other professions during the week. Targeting these men is discriminatory because OIR incorrectly assumes they are undocumented workers based on race, he said.

“They’re just stereotyping people. I know for a fact that there are people who go there to supplement their income on the weekend.”

Singling out Centro Cultural is also unfair because the center doesn’t run an active day labor program, said Sabino Sardineta, the center’s executive director. “We have never been, nor want to be, an employment agency.”

The Centro Cultural did receive $5,000 from the City of Cornelius in 1998 for such a day labor program, but it hasn’t been in operation for years. The center did employ a coordinator to help ease communication between laborers and potential employers, but that was also discontinued last year.

Now, Centro Cultural’s main link to the laborers is that it allows them to stand on the property from 6 a.m. to noon. Furthermore, the center’s programs are funded through private donations and foundation grants, not taxpayer dollars, Sardineta said.

“It’s very difficult to dialogue with them,” he said of OIR. “I don’t know what they want to do besides exasperate people.”

Strong economic forces are driving immigration to the United States, Sarineta said, and the most reasonable approach to the problem would involve a federal-level agreement between Mexico and the United States.

“It’s an issue that will not be solved by protesting or taking the law into their own hands,” he said.

“Let’s say you’re a contractor who’s very scrupulous and hires only citizens and legal immigrants. However, your competitors pay under the table, and can get jobs by bidding for lower than you are,” he said. “It’s unfair for American businesses to compete with people who do that.”

Right on! That is the main problem with such sights.

I'm tired of hearing the racism card. The word is 'illegal' as in breaking the law, has nothing to do with race.

Strong economic forces are driving immigration to the United States, Sarineta said, and the most reasonable approach to the problem would involve a federal-level agreement between Mexico and the United States.

No, greedy businesses willing to exploit cheap labor to maximize their profits are what is attracting immigrants.

WRONG WRONG! We do not need to consult, ask permission or approach Mexico for any kind of approval on federal level decisions. This is not a partnership!!!

“They’re just stereotyping people. I know for a fact that there are people who go there to supplement their income on the weekend.”

Wonder why Jorge Estrada, a Re/Max Realtor, can't figure out it would be MUCH easier for legal residents to get these weekend jobs without all the ILLEGALS.

Sounds to me like he's thinking of his wallet.

“What I’ve seen from the people there, they were advocating racism,” he said. “I’d rather not see these people in the neighborhood.”

And I'm sure they would rather not see a day labor center in their neighborhood!