City Ordered To Pay Day Laborers’ Legal Fees

Last Updated: Mon, 10/25/2010 - 3:02pm

A federal appellate court has ruled that an advocacy group representing illegal immigrant day laborers can collect legal fees from the city it successfully sued over a law banning workers from seeking employment on the street.

Issued by the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the ruling is slap in the face for yet another local government trying to curb illegal immigration. The case involves the southern California city of Lake Forest, an upscale community of about 75,000 residents.

Responding to residents’ complaints, Lake Forest passed an ordinance in 2007 prohibiting day laborers, mostly large groups of illegal immigrant men, from seeking work on public streets and potential employers from hiring them. A group representing the day laborers (La Associacion De Trabajadores De Lake Forest) quickly sued the city for “harassingâ€