Thread: Man's ad praises day laborers

http://www.potomacnews.com

Man's ad praises day laborers
By DANIEL GILBERT
dgilbert@potomacnews.com
Tuesday, June 27, 2006


The scores of Hispanic men looking for work outside the Woodbridge 7-Eleven are easy to spot from the road, strung out along the curb in rugged, paint-spattered clothes.
But one resident thinks they are not visible enough.

Gary Jacobsen placed an ad in the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger for six days last week, calling attention in bold, capital letters to the day laborers who gather daily at the corner of U.S. 1 and Longview Drive.

At a time when day laborers are often criticized as eyesores and symptoms of illegal immigration, Jacobsen sees them as a competent, cheap solution to the odd stoop labor job.

"The goal is to let people know they are there," said Jacobsen, 65. "In 90-degree heat, these guys will work like the devil all day."

Jacobsen, an ex-Marine who has lived in the county since 1974, doesn't care that the men are uninsured, need to be paid in cash and rarely speak English.

"I don't ask about their immigration status. As far as I'm concerned, they're all legitimate workers."

Across the region, day laborers have stirred a debate on how to handle an influx of immigration at a local level.

In Herndon's May election, voters unseated their mayor and three council members who had voted to use public funds for a day labor center. A lawsuit is currently pending to close down the workers' center.

The Prince William County Board of Supervisors has rejected spending public funds to assist day laborers, pinning responsibility for the men on the federal government.

"What you see on the streets of communities across Northern Virginia is the result of the federal government not being able to enforce its own immigration laws," said Sean Connaughton, chairman of the Prince William Board of Supervisors. "We're trying to deal with a problem we can't solve."

After 25 day laborers were arrested for loitering outside the Woodbridge 7-Eleven in October 2004, the store's owners agreed to allow the workers to gather by the store's perimeter until 10 a.m.

Jacobsen, an ex-Marine who has lived in the county since 1974, doesn't care that the men are uninsured, need to be paid in cash and rarely speak English.

"I don't ask about their immigration status. As far as I'm concerned, they're all legitimate workers."

A very dim bulb.

"I don't ask about their immigration status. As far as I'm concerned, they're all legitimate workers."

Well the law does not agree with you...now if we could just get somebody to enforce said laws the battle would be half way done.

doesn't care that the men are uninsured

All for the love of money...America be damned

Wonder how he would feel if a group of day labors moved in next door