Thread: CA - Tone polite at Vista day-labor law workshop

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nort ... rkers.html

Tone polite at Vista day-labor law workshop

By Angela Lau
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 7, 2007

VISTA – The two sheriff's deputies assigned to keep the peace at a workshop yesterday on the city's day-labor law didn't have much to do other than stand at the doorway of a Vista Library conference room.

Fifteen people showed up for the workshop, and many of them were friends of the organizer, The Coalition for Justice, Peace and Dignity, which opposes the ordinance.

The legislation, approved by the City Council in June, requires employers of day laborers to register with the city.

“People are still picking them up without registering,” said Tina Jillings, a coalition co-founder. “So many people have complained they were fined or cited for hiring day laborers.”

Yesterday's workshop was a polite question-and-answer session with a couple of people opposing illegal immigration.

It didn't match the hubbub that surrounded the law's passage, when crowds packed the council chambers and protesters rallied outside.

Dave Wilson, the city's code enforcement manager, was at the workshop to explain the law. He said that residents who go to day-laborer gathering sites to hire workers have to register with the city at no charge. They also must:

Display the registration in the vehicle used to hire and transport the laborers.

Return the workers to where they were picked up when they have completed their jobs.

Provide the workers with the employer's name, address, telephone number and the pay rate.

Code enforcement officers are posted daily at the most popular day-laborer hiring area, the Vons shopping center at Escondido and South Santa Fe avenues, Wilson said.

The first violation carries a $100 fine. The second costs $200, and the third and subsequent infractions cost $500 each.

The city has issued 46 citations, all of which were given to first-time offenders.

More than 75 employers have registered, but employment opportunities for day laborers have greatly diminished since the law took effect.

Vista resident Fredi Avalos asked if an employer's personal information would be released to anti-immigrant groups such as the Minutemen. Wilson said the information would be made public if requested, but he added later that he hasn't received complaints of employers being harassed.

Toward the end of the workshop, John Lopez of Vista said he was tired of taxpayers' subsidizing health care and other benefits for illegal immigrants. The day-labor law would have been unnecessary if the federal government had enforced border security, he said.

Mark Becker, a member of the Vista Citizens Brigade, which opposes hiring day laborers, asked why employers don't have to confirm laborers' eligibility to work in the United States.

Wilson said the city only enforces the registration law.

The Coalition for Justice, Peace and Dignity

anti-immigrant groups such as the Minutemen

this is not a quote and shows the authors bias on this issue.

Wilson said the city only enforces the registration law.

picking and choosing what laws to enforce is what is getting us in this mess in the first place. However, if this registration scares employers away I am all for it.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/01 ... 1_6_07.txt

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Vista workshop on day-laborer law attended by activists, few employers

By: SHAYNA CHABNER - Staff Writer

VISTA ---- A workshop meant to inform employers about how to comply with the Vista's day-labor ordinance Saturday drew about a dozen immigration and anti-illegal immigration activists, and only a couple potential employers.

Gathered in the community room at the Vista branch of the San Diego County Library, 700 Eucalyptus Ave., participants looked over the ordinance with a city official and former attorney, and asked a series of questions about the scope and enforcement of the law.

Under the law, which went into effect in late July, employers are required to register with the city before hiring day laborers off the street or in parking lots such as the previously popular site in front of a Vons shopping center in central Vista.

Activists from both sides of the debate disagreed as to whether the city-registered employers are required under the ordinance to verify the immigration status of day laborers they hire.

David Wilson, the code compliance manager for the city of Vista, was one of the two speakers present. He said that enforcing immigration requirements for employers is the responsibility of state and federal officials and not something the city handles.

"We are giving out the information and trying to make the person doing the hiring informed, but we are not policing that aspect," Wilson said. He said that to be in compliance with the city's code, an employer must be registered with the city, make a formal work agreement with the day laborer, and return the employee to the original hiring site.

Since the law took effect, the city has issued 73 certificates to employers and cited 46 people for making street-side hires without a certificate, Wilson said.

All of the citations were first-time offenses and issued for violations occurring in or near the Vons shopping center, at the corner of South Santa Fe and Escondido avenues, where code compliance officers have focused their enforcement efforts, Wilson said.

A fine of $100 is issued for the first offense, followed by a $200 fine for the second, and a $500 fine for any violation thereafter, Wilson said.

Packets about the city's ordinance, immigration laws and the forms to register with the city were available on a table at the meeting, organized by the activist group Coalition for Justice, Peace and Dignity.

Tina Jillings, cofounder of the coalition, said the meeting was held to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the law and how it is enforced.

"The city introduced this ordinance, and they didn't really think it all the way through," Jillings said, noting that she has received several complaints from people who feel that they were unfairly fined by the city and harassed by anti-illegal immigration activists that patrol the day-labor hiring sites.

Despite the low turnout ---- which Jillings said she was expecting ---- the community leader said useful information was provided, and the coalition plans to continue to host discussions about the ordinance and other issues affecting the community.

One Vista resident, 80-year-old John Roberts, who attended the meeting to express his views on the national immigration debate, said he did not agree with the ordinance because controlling illegal immigration was a job of the national government, not cities.

"I'm not against people making a living ... but I get tired of looking at this," Roberts said in a speech to the group.

He added that he thinks the borders should be more heavily patrolled and that temporary workers should only be allowed in the country for three- or four-month periods.

At the end of the workshop, Wilson said that he was "disappointed that there weren't more employers" present, and that the people there did "not necessarily" want to discuss or learn about the ordinance.

"People have their own motives," he said, adding, "I didn't get anybody who wanted to fill out the form, but I did put out the packets and, hopefully, they will go to good use."

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 631-6604 or schabner@nctimes.com.

Sounds like a bunch of disruptive people. If they were really concerned about Hispanics the they should be dealing with the drop out rate, teen pregnancy, gang intervention and spousal abuse. I beleive all of those problems facing the Hispanic community. They can't even deal with the problems the Hispanic Americans have and they are wasteing a lot of time defending the illegal aliens. That's what I don't get, why are they wasting resources and energy on illegal aliens?

Dixie

"The city introduced this ordinance, and they didn't really think it all the way through," Jillings said, noting that she has received several complaints from people who feel that they were unfairly fined by the city and harassed by anti-illegal immigration activists that patrol the day-labor hiring sites.

And most, if not all of those same silly twits that called to complain about those darn pesky "anti-illegal immigration activists" WOULD NOT HESITATE to file a massive lawsuit against the city for failing to rid the city of all these illegals, when the day laborer they hire decides to rape/murder their daughter in their own home because Biff wanted to save a buck and get his leaves raked on the cheap by Jose.