Herndon: Laborer Center Must Check Immigration Status
August 16, 2007 - 10:59am

HERNDON, Va. (AP) - The Herndon Town Council has voted to keep its day laborer center open but to find a new operator that will check the immigration status of the workers who use it.

The center has been the focus of heated debate since it opened two years ago to provide a more organized alternative for workers who used to flag down potential employers on the town's main thoroughfare. Six months after it opened, voters elected a new mayor and two new council members who opposed the center.

Project Hope and Harmony, the nonprofit group that currently manages the center has refused to check workers' documents, and critics say the center encourages illegal immigrants to come to the town. But supporters say any limitations on who can use the center will just put day laborers back on the streets.

"It will be a big disappointment for us and the workers" when Hope and Harmony leaves, said Bill Threlkeld, director of the group, which is affiliated with Reston Interfaith.

The council voted 6-1 on Wednesday night to allow Hope and Harmony to continue to run the center until a new operator is found. The group said it would consider remaining in the interim, but will continue its practice of not checking immigration status.

Officials said they have a new operator in mind.

Council member William B. Tirrell Sr. said "the rule of law" took priority over workers' needs.

"The law is the law is the law," he said. "We can't decide by whimsy what laws you're going to enforce."

But lawyer Daniel Choi argued it is the national immigration system that is broken, not the day labor center.

"If you don't want people out on the streets, you give them a place to work," he said.

Day laborer centers have ignited controversy elsewhere in the region as well. Another heated meeting on the issue took place Wednesday night in northeast Washington. D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. has proposed setting up a what he calls a multicultural training center at a local shopping center.

Critics of the plan said the center would serve undocumented workers who take jobs that could be filled by community residents.




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