Thread: Police in O.C. Arrest Latino Laborers in Front of Home Depot

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Police in O.C. Arrest Latino Laborers
Eight are taken from a Home Depot store to an immigration checkpoint by officers in Orange, who say the men broke work solicitation laws.
By Jennifer Delson
Times Staff Writer

February 25, 2006

Eight Latino laborers without proof of legal U.S. residency were arrested Friday morning in front of the Home Depot in Orange and taken to an immigration checkpoint, from which they could be deported.

Orange police said the men were soliciting work outside the store and were cited for violating a city law that prohibits it.

A police spokesman said the arrests were made at the request of Home Depot and its customers. Company spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said store officials did not call police and were unaware that arrests were to happen.

The arrests drew applause from opponents of illegal immigration and raised concerns among immigrant advocates.

Both groups, however, agreed that the arrests were uncommon, despite the large number of day laborers who solicit work at Home Depot stores and elsewhere throughout Southern California.

"It is unusual, but I think it's wonderful. These people are criminals in violation of federal immigration law," said Barbara Coe of Huntington Beach, chairwoman of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform.

The arrests alarmed immigrant activists, including Nativo Lopez of Santa Ana, national president of the immigrant advocacy organization Hermandad Mexicana, who wants to work to overturn the local law.

Lopez said he believed that police violated the workers' due-process rights because the workers did not have a chance to challenge what could have been an improper arrest.

Cities with similar laws have faced legal challenges. In May, a federal judge struck down a Glendale law that barred day laborers from soliciting work at curbsides, arguing that the law violated the workers' free speech rights.

Orange Councilman Steven F. Ambriz said he was unaware that police were targeting the workers, and said he would request a report from the Police Department.

Eight of nine men arrested did not have proper identification and were taken to a Border Patrol checkpoint in Dana Point, said Orange Police Sgt. Fred Lopez.

Another man who did have identification was cited and released.

The citation carries a fine that must be determined in Orange County Superior Court, said the sergeant.

"These are not immigration sweeps," said Fred Lopez. "We are arresting people who are violating our laws." He said the solicitors had violated city code, and police chose to enforce the law Friday because workers were soliciting work on property where signs in English and Spanish prohibiting it have long been posted.

The Home Depot is in an area of the city in which the code prohibits soliciting work during certain hours on public or private property from a person in a vehicle.

Leo Donati, 31, of Orange was arrested and released because he had an identification card, he said later. He said that about 7:30 a.m. Friday, a motorist in a van asked him and others if they were looking for work. When they approached, police arrived in a second van.

"There are people out there all the time," he said.

"Nothing like this has ever happened."

BRAVO Orange P.D.!!!! Maybe ICE should be taking LESSONS!

A little bit of law enforcement goes a long way too. I would bet it will be a while before any laborers congregate in front of that Home Deopt. :P

It's no surprise that the spokeswoman from Home Depot wants everyone to know that Home Depot didn't call the poice. They don't want to upset the illegal community.

Home Depot gives money to MALDEF and MALDEF is the one who challenged the no solicitation laws in Glendale. Home Depot has MALDEF and La Raza do their open border dirty work for them.

yep, home depot, number one on the national Boycott list. Please patronize Loew's and let depot know why you do. Thank you. Sylvia

Thank G-d someone takes our laws seriously.

Four years and counting since I've been in Home Depot. Last time I was there looking for something I couldn't find, I went to customer service. The guy couldn't understand what I was looking for even after I drew him a picture. I've got better places to spend my money and Lowe's has gotten it ever sense.

National Council of La Raza/ The Home Depot National Hiring Partnership

Overview

NCLR has partnered with The Home Depot National Hiring Partnership to link qualified candidates with open positions in The Home Depot stores. On a local level, The Home Depot Store Human Resource Managers (HRMs) and NCLR affiliate organizations are working closely together to match qualified candidates with specific hiring needs.

For more than two decades, NCLR has been involved in workforce development activities at both the local and national levels to develop the Latino community’s ability to connect and share in the nation’s economic opportunities. NCLR works to identify and resolve the major barriers for both Latino job seekers and private-sector employers. These barriers include technology, education, language, and skills on the job seekers side and recruitment and retention on the employer’s side. This demand-driven and partnership-based approach targets training and employment opportunities in growing regional industries, fulfilling the needs of employers and of Latino families.

The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer and second largest retailer in the United States. Founded in 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia The Home Depot currently operates in 50 U.S. states and in the District of Columbia, 10 Canadian provinces, and Mexico. In 1998, Home Depot opened stores in Puerto Rico and recently opened two sourcing offices in China.

NCLR/The Home Depot National Hiring Partnership Facts:

Launch: On February 14, 2005, The Home Depot announced the formation of a new National Hiring Partnership with four of the country's leading national Hispanic organizations, The ASPIRA Association, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), National Council of La Raza (NCLR), and SER – Jobs for Progress National.

Key Goals: To create a pipeline of qualified candidates through the National Council of La Raza affiliate network in order to meet both the short and long-term hiring needs of The Home Depot stores.

Number of Affiliates: 40 NCLR affiliates in California, Arizona, and Illinois were invited to participate in the initial phase of the partnership. The number of participating affiliates is expected to increase over time.

NCLR Key Contacts:

Margaret Perez-Clark, mperez-clark@nclr.org
NCLR Workforce Development Specialist, California, Texas, and Far West regions.
Natonal Council of La Raza
523 West 6th Street, Suite 840
Los Angeles, CA 90014

Simon Lopez, slopez@nclr.org
NCLR Sr. Workforce Development Specialist, Midwest region
National Council of La Raza
203 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 918
Chicago, IL 60601

The Home Depot Partnership Website

For more information on the partnership, please visit:

www.careers.homedepot.com/united
NCLR does not endorse, review, or authorize the content stated on this site.


Stories from the program

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http://www.alipac.us/article1063.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 7639.story

Citizens Sparked Dayworker Arrests, City Says
The detention of immigrants near a Home Depot last week followed complaints about loitering, Orange officials say.
By Jennifer Delson
Times Staff Writer

February 28, 2006

Orange city officials Monday defended the arrests last week of day laborers outside a Home Depot store, saying police need to respond to citizen complaints about loitering.

Although both immigrants rights advocates and foes of illegal immigrants agreed that the arrests were unusual, city officials said they were nothing new.

They said police had previously arrested day laborers for violating a municipal code that banned soliciting work outside.

"This is not a first and won't be a last," said Mayor Mark A. Murphy. "This is simply a situation where we responded to concerns in the community."

In 2005, the Orange Police Department received 338 citizens' complaints regarding dayworkers, Sgt. Dave Hill said, not including those received through informal police contacts or calls to the mayor's hotline.

On eight separate "enforcement days" since August, he said, police have arrested 84 people for violating the municipal code against work solicitation, all but four of whom were turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol in San Clemente.

Councilwoman Carolyn Cavecche said several residents complained at a recent council meeting about being accosted and heckled by day laborers.

"The taxpayers in Orange want us to do this," she said. "We are inundated with complaints."

More than two dozen men who regularly wait in front of the Home Depot on Katella Avenue looking for odd jobs ran when police arrived Friday morning.

Nine were arrested, and one who showed a California identification card was released.

The remaining eight without proof of residency were sent to a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in San Clemente for possible deportation.

Immigrants rights advocates criticized the practice of taking suspects to the Border Patrol.

They say it can encourage racial profiling and can violate immigrants' rights because they don't have the ability to fight what may be an unlawful arrest.

"This is ugly. It's terrible," said Amin David, who heads the civil group Los Amigos of Orange County. David is organizing a committee to discuss the matter with city officials and to get information to day laborers about their rights.

Hill said his department and Home Depot had long discussed how to handle the dozens of dayworkers in front of the store each day.

Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher acknowledged those meetings but said store employees "did nothing to activate the arrests" Friday.

City Atty. David A. DeBerry said police would pursue day laborers on private property where signs were posted that prohibit soliciting.

The police will not enforce part of the municipal code that refers to soliciting on public property because similar laws have been challenged in other cities, he said.

Only a handful of laborers stood in front of the Home Depot on Monday.

The laborer who had been released Friday, Leo Donati, said he was afraid to return.

On Monday morning, six men in front of the store said a Home Depot employee had asked them to stay out of the parking lot and they had — hoping instead to find work from the sidewalk.

Julio Jimenez, 31, said he was there because he made more money as a day laborer in the United States than he did in Mexico.

In his native Puebla state, he said, he earned $100 a week changing tires. In the last six weeks, he said he has made more than $300 a week roofing homes and gardening for about $10 an hour.

"I'm scared to be out here today because of what happened," Jimenez said. "But I'm out here because of need. I want to be a help to this city, not a burden. I want to work."

WOo hoO!!!! I made the news ... I live in that city and was caller 296.

tHANK GOD I created a flyer that I place at Home depot - that specifically targets home depot for hiring illegals - just placed about 20 more this morning