http://www.signonsandiego.com

Encinitas is urged to limit laborers

By Angela Lau
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 21, 2006

ENCINITAS – Members of a group that monitors illegal immigration have begun a campaign to pressure the City Council into keeping day laborers off the streets.

But so far, there are no takers among the politicians, most of whom said the city's hands are tied by federal laws that protect the civil rights of migrant workers who stand by the roadside waiting to be picked up for odd jobs.

Furthermore, the council members pointed out that the last time Encinitas tried to prohibit curbside hiring in 1990, a federal judge blocked the ordinance. The city later repealed the law.

Yesterday, none of the four council members interviewed wished to enter into another ordinance that would be tied up in litigation.

The Minuteman Project's request came Wednesday night, the last meeting before the City Council's summer recess.

Saul Lisauskas, a Minuteman Project member and founder of the Encinitas Citizen Brigade, asked for an ordinance similar to a law Vista passed recently that regulates curbside hiring by requiring would-be employers to register at City Hall. Vista officials have said the law is aimed at discouraging employers from curbside hiring.

“We the people want the return of this city (Encinitas) back to the citizens,” Lisauskas said. “We want law and order re-established.”

The Vista ordinance, which will go into effect July 28, already is being challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union and California Rural Legal Assistance Inc. The groups argue that it violates free speech and equal protection rights.

The lawsuit, however, did not deter Lisauskas, who promised to return before the Encinitas council after the recess ends Aug. 23.

He also urged the council to forbid loitering on the streets, punish employers who hire illegal immigrants and prohibit stopping or parking where day laborers gather. The sites include the entrance to a shopping center on Encinitas Boulevard west of Interstate 5, the corner of Encinitas Boulevard and Manchester Avenue and areas around Home Depot on El Camino Real.

Tom Haggerty, another Minuteman member, told the City Council on Wednesday that he was accosted at Home Depot by migrant workers who were angry at him for not hiring them. They slammed his car door on his leg, he said.

Council members did not comment Wednesday night because the issue was brought up during public comments and was not part of the agenda.

Yesterday, they said there is little they can do.

“Is there really anything that we can do? I don't know,” Councilman Jerome Stocks said. “If there is anything that can be legitimately, legally and effectively done, it certainly merits a look. But I don't want to squander tax dollars on lawsuits. I am not willing to do something dumb just for the sake of being righteous.”

Councilman James Bond said anything the council tries to do would trample on the rights of migrant workers.

“We've tried all those things,” he said.

Mayor Christy Guerin said: “We'll just have to monitor it and watch what happens to Vista.”

Sheriff's detective Sgt. Ron Morse said deputies can arrest migrant workers only if they committed a crime, not for gathering in public places or on immigration charges.

The Minuteman requests angered Claudia Smith, director of the border project for the nonprofit California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.

She said any effort to restrict curbside hiring would be challenged in court. Her organization was one of the parties that sued Encinitas in 1990 for banning curbside hiring.

“Everybody is talking about the eyesore of day laborers but nobody has turned their sights of the ugly Minuteman conduct. They are very disruptive,” Smith said.

Meanwhile, Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said the Encinitas store prohibits soliciting in its parking lot and has hired security guards.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angela Lau: (760) 476-8240; angela.lau@uniontrib.com