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City may limit day laborers

Edythe Jensen
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 11, 2005 12:00 AM

It could soon get tougher for day laborers to seek work along Arizona Avenue in Chandler.

By the end of the year, the City Council will decide whether to restrict vehicle parking and stopping along the thoroughfare that is regularly lined with throngs of mostly Hispanic men seeking work.

The restrictions were among more than 20 recommendations made to the City Council on Thursday by the Human Relations Commission.

Another urges posting of "no loitering" and "no trespassing" signs on a city-owned parking lot where workers congregate. City Manager Mark Pentz said his staff will study the proposals and bring them back for a vote by fall.

The suggestions are aimed at keeping workers off the street and encouraging use of a private day labor center at 501 S. Arizona Ave., commission chairman Joel Munter said.

More services, including education, translation and consulate programs, are needed at the center but no city funds can be used, he said.

In two weeks, the Santan Freeway through Chandler will open to Arizona Avenue, funneling traffic past the labor throngs.

The recommendations sidestepped immigration issues, which experts at a regional day-labor forum held in Chandler last week said were subject to federal, not local, enforcement.

The commission urged compliance with federal and local labor requirements, but those requirements don't include verification of immigration status for "casual" labor.

Workers interviewed by commissioners want the city to require use of the labor center, Munter said, but legal concerns stopped members from making that recommendation.