Day Laborer's Pavilion Brings Jobs and Conflict to Shirlington (Tax Dollars For Illegals)

Arlington, VA Connection Newspaper ^ | February 17, 2005 | Stefan Cornibert

[Onelifetogive]

Most of the men are recent immigrants from places like Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Some are undocumented.

That's OK....so long as they are not illegal. We can get them new documents.....

</sarcasm*>

[Oatka]

"The jobs are difficult — laying bricks, painting, finishing, loading and unloading trucks, to name a few."

Hello? Difficult to whom? The writer? There are tens of thousands of Americans who used to make a decent living doing those jobs. How many kids put themselves through college like this?

[TheSpottedOwl]

Ping. You're gonna love this...

[cassie22]

You raise an interesting point. Apparently no American workers will lower themselves to do these types of jobs. I wish the "memo" came out earlier as I've done all of these jobs, sometimes for employers and other times for myself.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Tension exists among the workers themselves. Latino workers make up the majority who come to the pavilion, but it regularly sees African American laborers. Competition for jobs often causes altercations between these two groups.

What's going to happen when white Americans show up to try and get a day's wage? What happens when they see their former employer pull up? Ooops....

[gieriscm]

We consumers need to demand all contractors and/or remodelers that we hire that they do NOT use day labor for the work. I'm having major renovations done on my townhouse this spring - it's cheaper than moving - and one of the stipulations is that there will be no day laborers used.

[JustAnotherSavage]

""But the downside is that sometimes they are only hired for three or four hours of work," Tobar said. "That's why we ask that they be paid better than minimum wage."



Swell. Now they are demanding higher wages for illegals.

It gets nuttier by the day.

[Phosgood]

I did a word search for "illegal".

None found.

[stopem]

Good for you!! We did that as well with the company who does our landscaping.

[Tacis]

There is a booming business in "second hand merchandise," material "liberated" from the homes and cars of the gringos. Representatives of El Presidente Fos and Sra. Fox like it because it facilitates the efficient distribytion of "product" and the collection of cash.

I love the concept of the lottery, as if to say it brings order to the mass of criminal illegal aliens throwing trash on the ground and peeing on the back wall. Once the numbers are distributed, what to you think happens with the criminals who didn't make the cut? They have a back up location where they go to try to get work.

And every one of these criminals that is illegally employed by a gringo violating the law means that young, unemployed black men from the District of Columbia spend another day getting into trouble and not learning job skills.

[NewRomeTacitus]

Other business owners nearby listed similar complaints but declined to go on the record. By the same token, most also acknowledged the importance of finding jobs for the men.

Declined to go on record? Are they living in fear of retribution from the illegals and the government who allows them to remain here?

But they're right that these men need jobs. We should help them resume job searches in their home countries immediately.

(Note I left the bird crap, car-chasing and rat statements for you wittier folks to comment on.)

[Eaker]

Make sure that the contractor covers every worker with workers compensation insurance and will sign a waiver of subrogation.

This varies from state to state but it will save your buns in case of an accident and will make it really tough for your contractor to employ illegals.

[politicalwit]

HEY!!!!! These are the low paying jobs American won't do </sarcasm>

[Missouri]

said Jeff Rathner, a cameraman for WETA television, a station that has a studio down the street. "Everybody here is very sympathetic to their plight, but they just can't manage to wrangle these guys."

These media types will be our downfall. What if one of these illegals get hurt on the job. Is Mr. Rathner or the contractors going to pay the medical bills. No. The taxpayer will.

[LNewman]

What's going to happen when white Americans show up to try and get a day's wage?

That's what happened, sort of, at our illegal alien job center. Residents were up in arms and want/wanted it closed. The local paper responded with a front page article with a large photo of, you got it, the lone white guy in the whole crowd ... like that gave the "job center" cesspool some sort of credence. Not! The only reason the "job center" was established is because the illegals had previously taken over the neighborhood park.

[lonewacko_dot_com]

PBS's Hypocrisy Revealed: PBS station opposes day-laborer center

http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/001509.html

[LNewman]

That's ... ahem ... understandable. It would negatively affect their quality of life, after all!

[Brownie74]

For business owners in the surrounding community, it is a source of concern and conflict.

There would be no cause for concern or conflict at all if these people were not here. Put up "no loitering" or "no standing on street corner" signs like we have here.

[leadpenny]

The PBS folks at the WETA offices in Shrlington represent the keepers of the welfare state and they are hypocrites when it comes to trying to keep these hard working immigrants (illegal or otherwise) out-of-sight and out-of-mind.