From the liberal rag, Houston Chronicle. Notice how "Illegal" is not even mentioned....Par for the course....
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... ceff8820e0

Latinos' lawsuit alleges harassment
Day laborers say League City is targeting them

GALVESTON — Day laborers in League City filed a federal lawsuit Thursday, accusing police of harassment and discrimination aimed at preventing them from seeking employment.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Jornaleros de Las Palmas, a group of about 40 Latino workers, seeks to halt the alleged harassment.

The lawsuit also asks the court to declare unconstitutional a state law preventing day laborers from soliciting jobs from the street.

"The city is not targeting any other group, so we do believe the city is targeting our clients because of their race and origin," said Marisa Bono, an attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

League City officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Perry also named in suit

The lawsuit names League City, Police Chief Michael Jez and Gov. Rick Perry as defendants.

Bono said Perry was named because he is charged with enforcing the section of the state transportation code that makes it illegal to stand in the roadway to solicit a ride, contribution, job or business from the occupant of a vehicle unless the purpose is to solicit money for a charity.

"That could include people who hail a taxi or a bus," Bono said. "The law is not allowed to cast its net so wide."

Jez launched a campaign against day workers in September 2009, the lawsuit alleges. Charging day laborers with criminal trespass, police drove them away from a small convenience store where they solicited work with the permission of the owner, according to the lawsuit.

Police posing as contractors arrested day laborers who subsequently stood on the roadside looking for work, the lawsuit said. Workers were fined as much as $1,000, Bono said.