http://www.judicialwatch.org/5815.shtml

Judicial Watch Warns Mayor of Gaithersburg, Maryland: Proposed Day Laborer Site May be Illegal


(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the public interest group that fights government corruption, announced today that it has issued a written warning to Gaithersburg, Maryland Mayor Sidney Katz that the city’s proposed taxpayer-funded Day Laborer Site may violate federal employment and immigration laws. According to the proposal under consideration, the City of Gaithersburg would lease property for the day laborer site and contract with a third party to operate the facility. Montgomery County, Maryland would also provide taxpayer resources to fund the operation of the facility in the form of a grant.

As Judicial Watch noted in its letter of July 25, federal law prohibits the hiring of an undocumented worker, and makes it unlawful to “encourage or induce an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law.”

Judicial Watch included with its letter a recent UCLA/University of Illinois survey of 2,260 day laborers at 264 hiring sites in 20 states, including Maryland, which concluded 75% of day laborers are undocumented. The day laborer site proposal under consideration by the City of Gaithersburg provides no screening for immigration status.

“While the intentions behind the proposed facility may be well-meaning, we are concerned that operation of the proposed facility may violate federal employment and immigration laws and/or aid, abet, or otherwise facilitate and encourage the violation of such laws,” wrote Judicial Watch Director of Litigation Paul Orfanedes. “We remain hopeful, however, that taxpayer resources will not be misused to operate a day laborer facility in an unlawful manner.”

Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit on behalf of local taxpayers against the Town of Herndon and Fairfax County, Virginia in 2005 for using taxpayer funds to bankroll a day laborer site. That lawsuit is currently pending before the Circuit Court for the County of Fairfax.

Judicial Watch’s letter

http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/20 ... md0706.pdf

UCLA/University of Illinois Study on day laborers

http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/20 ... report.pdf

Fairfax County, Virginia day laborer site survey

http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/20 ... report.pdf