http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/07 ... 7_7_06.txt

Day laborers not prevalent in San Marcos

By: TOM PFINGSTEN and BRENDA DURAN - Staff Writers

SAN MARCOS ---- They wait on street corners until someone picks them up to work for the day ---- hence the tag "day laborers."

In Vista, those who hire them will soon be required to register with the city. In Fallbrook, a vacant lot where dozens once gathered every morning was fenced off by neighbors.

But in San Marcos, it seems that if the angst over day laborers had not occurred in nearby communities, no one would know who they are.

While the issue has spurred public debate in various parts of North County and prompted the controversial registration law in Vista, residents and officials in San Marcos have been relatively quiet about the subject.

There is only one location in the city where a significant number of day laborers gather to await work ---- at the corner of Twin Oaks Valley and Buena Creek roads, surrounded by fields and nurseries.

On Thursday morning, more than 15 day laborers waited there, some huddled near the corner flower stand called "Xochitl's Flowers," others sitting outside of Twin Oaks Market Wine and Liquor Mart.

Juan Manuel Torres said he has been coming to the site for two years to look for work. He said at least five of the men who gather outside the small roadside market in hope of being hired live in a migrant camp near Palomar Mountain.

Torres said he likes the San Marcos site because it has not been targeted by the anti-illegal immigration Minutemen, and it is the only place he has been able to get a steady flow of work without any hassles.

However, since debate in Congress over illegal immigration spurred student protests this spring, Torres, who is undocumented, said there has been a significant drop in the number of employers who come by.

"I only get work twice a week if I am lucky," said Torres in Spanish.

Watching how law plays out in Vista


On June 27, the Vista City Council approved an ordinance that will require employers who hire day laborers to display a registration certificate in their car window and present written terms of employment to those they pick up for the day. The new law takes effect July 28.

City Council members in San Marcos say they are watching how the situation plays out in Vista.

In San Marcos, there are no laws or codes that apply to day laborers, City Manager Rick Gittings said Thursday.

"The only thing that would come remotely close would be a no-solicitation policy, but as far as I know, there have not been any day laborers knocking on people's doors looking for work," Gittings said.

Officials say day laborers are not an issue in this rapidly growing city of 77,000, but seem to be taking notes about how Vista reacts to its new law in case the volatile subject draws scrutiny and calls for action in San Marcos.

"I don't know that we're going to have to act on it anytime soon," said San Marcos Councilman Jim Desmond, adding that the Twin Oaks Valley day laborer site is the only one he knows of. "I'd like to see how it plays out in Vista. If we start getting complaints, we'll have to look into it a little bit closer, but it doesn't seem to be such an urgent issue in San Marcos."

Whether protests and turmoil over day laborers will ever hit San Marcos as they have Vista is anyone's guess.

"It's difficult to predict, but at this point we've not had any indication that it's a burning issue in the minds of San Marcos residents," Gittings said, adding that he sees no need for the City Council to address it.

That there is only one day laborer site in the city is a bit of a riddle, and is also the most likely reason day laborers have not made headlines in San Marcos.

Desmond said the Twin Oaks Valley Road site has probably kept a low profile because of its location ---- close to agricultural jobs, yet isolated from most city dwellers.

"There's a lot of agriculture and nurseries that may have a use for the day laborers, and it hasn't been that much of an issue for the city residents," Desmond said. "If they took up a location on San Marcos Boulevard, it might become more of an issue."

Arcela Nunez, director of the National Latino Research Center at Cal State San Marcos, said that San Marcos is not as populous as other nearby cities with large Latino populations, but that residents and businesses here still hire day laborers.

"We tend to be a passageway, not necessarily a congregation site," she said of the city, nestled between Escondido and Vista with only one agricultural region ---- Twin Oaks Valley. "I think that (San Marcos) residents who draw on the help of day laborers probably go seek them in other cities, knowing where they congregate."

Gerardo Gonzalez, a faculty member at the university and former director of the Latino research center, suggested that establishing a day laborer hiring center may eventually be a good idea.

"I think there's evidence that these centers could be helpful to address employment needs in an organized, coordinated way," said Gonzalez. "It seems to be working in other parts of North County."

At the site off Twin Oaks Valley Road, day laborer Pedro Hernandez, who came from Oaxaca two years ago, said the new law in Vista will only contribute to the decrease in work and will not prove successful in the end.

"It's impossible," said Hernandez. "How are they going to register people who only work one or two days?"

Hernandez said he believes anti-immigration sentiment is behind the drop in work in the area and that the new law in Vista will only make it worse.

"It's getting very difficult," said Hernandez, as he waited for work Thursday morning. "These are hard times."

Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 761-4414 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com. Contact staff writer Brenda Duran at (760) 761-4408 or bduran@nctimes.com.