Idea of designated spot for day laborers to go, with or without county backing, finds support among some
April 1, 2007
The thorny issue of day laborers gathering on Farmingville street corners is now a decade old, and remains unresolved, but with the defeat last month of an anti-loitering bill in the Suffolk Legislature, a once unthinkable idea is now quietly gaining traction: a designated hiring site.
The idea is gaining support from surprising quarters - including the head of Suffolk's human rights commission and the head of its Hispanic Advisory Board, who now support the idea in general, although without taxpayer funds.
"If you want them off the streets, give them a place to go," said another supporter, Legis. Thomas Barraga, a Republican from West Islip who backs the idea of a hiring center, even one supported by government funds. He said a hiring site "works for both sides" because it protects workers' rights and improves the quality of life for residents by getting the workers off the streets. Three such sites now exist on the Island, and Southampton Village officials Friday embraced the idea for their own small community, with operations expected to start in about a week. Similar sites exist in dozens of communities across the United States - funded both privately and publicly. But each locality has its own politics, and it's far from clear whether Southampton's move will further nudge the issue in any direction county-wide. County Executive Steve Levy, for one, continues to firmly oppose a formal hiring site.
The question of hiring sites often provokes volatile reactions. That's one reason, some residents and activists say, why Southampton village officials had not publicly unveiled their proposed site until Friday. Levy's position has been firm. He said he would not provide governmental support of any kind - even verbal - for such a site because many of the day laborers are in the country illegally and work off the books.
"The answer is not for local government to surrender and legitimize an illegal underground economy by constructing a hiring hall, but rather to enforce its laws to the greatest extent possible," he said.
A controversial plan
As the debate appears to more openly include the idea of a county- or town-endorsed site, neighborhood feelings run as strong as ever. In Farmingville, even as the debate on day laborers has gone on for 10 years, the number of men on the corners has grown. On any given morning, there might be 250 gathered.
"It's not a pretty sight and I don't like it," said Farmingville resident Gail Dandrea. "I stay out of town as much as possible. I won't go into the 7-Eleven" where day laborers gather.
Urged on by residents such as Dandrea, the county has plunged into the issue, especially in the past few years. Since the late 1990s, Suffolk officials have attempted to deal with the influx by pursuing or proposing a variety of actions such as suing the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, adopting English as the county's official language, deputizing county police as immigration agents and cracking down on overcrowded housing.
Yet the problem remains controversial and unsolved. Discussion of a hiring site is now gaining momentum as other ideas to address the issue have failed to fix the problem. The hiring site idea was approved by the Suffolk Legislature in 2001, but was vetoed by then-County Executive Robert Gaffney.
Legis. Jack Eddington (WFP-Medford), who co-sponsored the anti-loitering bill, said he is not sure what the solution is now. He said he plans to "brainstorm" soon with co-sponsor, Legis. Joseph Caracappa (R-Selden), who did not return calls seeking comment.
Levy, who has made illegal immigration and day laborers a priority of his administration, said a recently approved law aimed at prosecuting contractors "will now be subject to enforcement - and we hope the federal government will finally begin to do its part by enforcing its own immigration laws."
Counties tackle problem
Nassau and Suffolk communities are not the only municipalities confronting illegal immigration and undocumented workers across the United States. At least 120,000 day laborers gather at 600 corners in some 20 states including New York, said a 2004 survey conducted in part by a UCLA professor.
The number of undocumented immigrants nationwide has reached a record 12 million including 100,000 on Long Island, immigration experts say.
Congress has been debating changes to the nation's immigration laws for years - a proposed guest worker program, for instance, would allow people to work here legally for limited periods.
But as Congress debates, communities have taken the immigration issue into their own hands. For example, the town of Hazelton, Pa., adopted laws making it illegal to hire or rent apartments to undocumented immigrants. But that effort is under challenge in court, and experts such as Dan Griswold of the non-partisan Cato Institute in Washington D.C. contend at best it drives the immigrants into other communities.
As in Suffolk, other places have tried anti-loitering laws, but they have been ruled unconstitutional. Some people think the federal government should simply deport all undocumented immigrants, but immigration experts and government officials say that is unfeasible.
63 sites nationwide
In Suffolk, officials have cracked down on overcrowded housing and on contractors who hire undocumented immigrants - but day laborers remain on the streets. Now, a growing number of officials and advocates are looking to the idea of a designated parking lot or area where day laborers would gather for work in Farmingville. There are an estimated 63 such sites nationwide, funded privately and publicly, including ones in Freeport, Glen Cove and Huntington Station that have had mixed success getting day laborers off the streets.
The Long Island Community Foundation, a Syosset-based philanthropic organization, has offered to come up with funding to run the Suffolk site, estimated to be about $75,000 annually, although it insists local government provide support.
"It doesn't resolve 100 percent of the problem," said the foundation's James Claffey. "But at least it brings some order to the chaos."
But a hiring site faces fierce resistance from Levy and others. Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, a research center in Washington, D.C., that favors stricter immigration limits, said it in effect condones illegal immigration.
But Barraga called that a "bogus" argument, saying "the underground economy exists not only for immigrants but in a lot of other industries that involve native-born Americans - a lot of cash and carry."
Barraga said it could solve a complicated problem that may be around for years. Day laborers "are not going home. They're not leaving. They're being assimilated into the economic base of the United States of America."
THE SITES
THERE ARE AN ESTIMATED 63 formal day laborer hiring sites in the United States, from California to Texas to New Jersey. Usually, they are in parking lots where contractors can pull in and out easily. Many have some kind of structure such as a trailer or a building that includes a bathroom, and are run by an on-site coordinator.
Hiring sites typically open for business between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. and stay open until at least noon. Many distribute jobs using a lottery system in which workers' names are randomly pulled out of a basket or tumbler.
Some centers also match workers' skills with employers' needs. If the contractor needs a roofer, for instance, and the first worker on the list lacks that skill, they move on to the next until the appropriate person is found. Some centers keep records listing employers' names to help prevent exploitation of workers. Most centers set a pay level of at least minimum wage and seek to protect workers' rights by tracking contractors who hire them.
Many centers offer activities for workers, such as English lessons and computer workshops, while they wait for work.
Supporters contend the centers get many of the men off the streets and improve the quality of life for all residents. Opponents say the centers foster illegal activity because many of the workers are undocumented immigrants and work off the books.
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