Thread: Workers Gather At New Herndon Day Labor Site

http://www.nbc4.com/news/5532726/detail.html



Workers Gather At New Herndon Day Labor Site
Trailer Serves As Office

POSTED: 8:38 am EST December 14, 2005
UPDATED: 11:15 am EST December 14, 2005

HERNDON, Va. -- Dozens of day laborers gathered Wednesday morning at a new publicly funded site in Herndon with portable heaters and toilets on one of the coldest mornings of the year.

However, less than a dozen contractors showed to offer work, News4's Michael Flynn reported.

A temporary trailer served as the office for what will be the controversial new job center site. The Herndon Town Council approved the plan in August.

Critics are keeping close watch -- including a group called the Herndon Minutemen, who are photographing employers who pick up some laborers. They say the site promotes work for illegal immigrants.

Protesters also appeared at the site Wednesday.

"It's taxpayer money used to fund an illegal activity," one protester said.

Job center advocates said casual labor is legal and everyone deserves a presumption of innocence. Project Hope spokesman Joel Mills said the day labor site addresses a community safety issue. He said immigration is a national issue the federal government is working to address.

Contractors who showed at the site on Wednesday defended their actions.

"They need to eat, and I need some help," Ken Buckland said. "So it works well for both of us."

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20051213 ... -4533r.htm

Doors to open at day-laborer center
By Keyonna Summers
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published December 14, 2005

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The trailer that houses Herndon's day-laborer center, scheduled to open this morning, isn't fancy. But it is clean; it is heated; and it has a restroom.

For the laborers who plan to use the center, it's a welcome step up from hanging out on a street corner, in nearby parking lots or outside a 7-Eleven.

"It's just amenities we try to provide on site so they don't have to go a distance to get the things that they need," said Bill Threlkeld, director of Project Hope and Harmony, a nonprofit group that will operate the center. "Any degree of initial comfort we can give them is very much appreciated by them."

Still, workers will have to wait for work outside the trailer, in a designated area of the center's parking lot.

Organizers will use a lottery system to distribute jobs among the laborers so they don't swarm vehicles entering the parking lot, Mr. Threlkeld said.

"So you only have three or five guys at a time who know they are in line to go to a work site, [and] the rest of the guys ... know if they venture off for too long, they might miss out on the opportunity," he said.

In the parking lot, there will be four portable toilets, heaters and a mobile food vendor to prevent the laborers -- mostly men -- from walking around town, Mr. Threlkeld said.

The trailer that houses the center sits behind the town's former police station, near the intersection of Rock Hill and Sterling roads in Herndon.

Tensions arose in the summer when the Herndon Town Council approved a taxpayer-funded center for day laborers, who are mostly illegal aliens.

Town residents and merchants complained that the laborers, who congregated outside convenience stores or on street corners, drank, urinated in public and harassed women who walked by.

The laborers have formed a leadership group, a code of conduct and disciplinary rules to self-regulate such behavior, said Joel Mills, an executive council member of Project Hope and Harmony.

"It's a much more well-structured environment than what they're used to, and we're working with everybody to make sure they understand the rules," he said.

The center is funded through a $175,000 contract with Fairfax County, a $43,000 Consolidated Community Funding Pool award from the county, a $35,000 grant from the Washington Area Partnership for Immigrants and private donations, Mr. Threlkeld said.

"We've budgeted about $280,000 a year," he said. "That includes personnel, leases, you've got insurance, and that doesn't even include a whole slew of in-kind services that we provide as part of our program."

The center also will offer English classes.

Organizers also plan to build a 40-by-25-foot curtained shelter in the parking lot this winter to curb the wind and rain and keep in warmth, Mr. Threlkeld said. It also will have awnings if the center exceeds its 150-person capacity, he added.

"They need to eat, and I need some help," Ken Buckland said. "So it works well for both of us."

Every citizen of Herndon should contact ICE and report this jackass Buckland. He should be fined thousands and made to pull time for hiring illegals.

Since only a dozen illegal employers showed up today to pick up their illegal employees, I wonder if Project Hope and Harmony's going to pay rent for illegals who can't get work.

Herndon Virginia is run by a bunch of IDIOTS!