Thread: CA-Day Laborer Crackdown Nets 12 Arrests

Day laborer crackdown nets 12 arrests

By ELLYN PAK
The Orange County Register
September 28, 2009

Three Costa Mesa locations targeted for illegal soliciting.

Twelve day laborers were recently arrested for illegally soliciting work at three hot spots in the city, police said.

Plain-clothed officers arrested four day laborers Friday in three locations, including the U-Haul at 2680 Newport Blvd., 7-Eleven at 2150 Placentia Avenue and Tom's Place at 799 W. 17th Street.

"It's something we constantly enforce," said Costa Mesa police Sgt. Bryan Glass. "A lot of times we do that in uniform."

The day laborers had violated city codes that bar them from soliciting work in public streets and commercial parking areas that have signs prohibiting such conduct.

Like other Orange County cities, Costa Mesa has worked over the years to tackle issues related to day laborers.

In 2005, Costa Mesa voted to shutter a city-sponsored job center, which citizens argued attracted illegal immigrants and wasted tax payers' money. The center – formerly on Placentia Avenue – opened in 1988 in response to complaints about loitering, traffic problems and unsafe conditions when laborers searched for work on streets and at parks.

At more than $100,000 per year, the center linked employers and workers for short-term manual labor jobs in construction, landscaping and painting.

In recent months, the city has taken a look at the city of Orange's stringent ordinances that ban solicitation on streets without parking lanes and require businesses to acquire permits if they want laborers to congregate on their property.

Orange leaders passed its ordinances last year after grappling with hundreds of day laborers who gathered daily near hardware stores, doughnut shops and convenience stores. The number of solicitors dropped down as much as 80 percent after the laws were passed.

Contact the writer: 949-553-2936 or epak@ocregister.com

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/labo ... mesa-costa

The day laborers had violated city codes that bar them from soliciting work in public streets and commercial parking areas that have signs prohibiting such conduct.

Either they can't read, don't care because they believe they have every right to be there or both.