Posted on 08/08/2005 7:31:27 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
Day labor center proposal stirs national debateBy Samson Habte
Examiner Staff Writer
It's not every day that a state legislator is featured on a national cable news program.
But there was Prince William County Del. Scott Lingamfelter last week, appearing on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" to discuss a proposal to build a day laborer hiring center in Herndon - a plan critics say will encourage illegal immigration.
"My position is we should not be spending taxpayer money to finance that which is really subsidizing what is an illegal activity," said Lingamfelter, a Dale City Republican.
Lingamfelter's cameo should not have been surprising: The day laborer debate has thrust Herndon into the national spotlight. Politicians and interest groups from all over the country have weighed in on a local land-use issue that has been a proxy for debates over illegal immigration.
The debate reached a crescendo in Herndon last week. Herndon's Planning Commission decided early Thursday morning - after hours of public testimony - to recommend against approval of the facility, which would be built with a $170,000 grant from Fairfax County. Herndon's Town Council will vote on final approval Aug. 16.
The influence of national actors was evident during Herndon's hearings. Thomas Fitton, president of the national legal organization Judicial Watch, appeared and threatened the town with a lawsuit, arguing it was illegal to build a facility that would encourage illegal immigration.
"If the citizens of Herndon can't persuade you ... to obey the law, perhaps a court can," Fitton said.
Herndon resident Linda Muller stood to read an anti-facility message she had been "authorized to deliver" by Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a proponent of tighter immigration laws.
But Ann Czonka, a town resident, rose to decry "outsider action from groups that have their own agenda."
Thirty-year Herndon resident Ruth Tatlock delivered a more pointed message.
"Outside agitators - please, please stay away," Tatlock said.
The labor debate
Where the debate over day laborer sites stands in parts of the region:
- Arlington County: County money was used in 2003 to build a facility in Shirlington.
- Montgomery County: Contributed county funds to a 1991 site in Silver Spring; built a county-funded site in Wheaton in 2005.
- Fairfax County: Appropriated $400,000 in 2005 to build four sites - including one in Herndon - throughout the county. Plans bogged down over difficulty finding suitable locations.
- Prince William County: Task force recommended building a facility earlier this year, but local officials have ruled out using county funds to build one.
Herndon would not even consider this proposal if the Feds were serious about enforcing existing immigration law.
You would have to be beyond clueless to believe otherwise.
"Hope" Arkansas is where Mike Huckabee was born, as well as Bill Clinton. Must be something in the water there...
sw
I lived in silver spring in 1989 before they built the center. We complained vigorously to the INS at the time, because the front of the local 7-11 had been taken over by some very rude and lewd day laborers, who would publicly urinate and cat call women and young girls. The INS did exactly NOTHING! We also complained to the county council.
The county built the center to move the laborers away from congregating in front of a private business because they could not enforce loitering laws unless there was a disturbance.
I don't agree with these sites, however as a homeowner who had been at wits end...we were pretty happy to have the laborers moved over a mile down the road.
Understand that the federal government had as little interest then, as it does now in apprehending illegals. At that time, we were thankful that the county stepped in.
Was following Mike Graham's WMAL web site a couple months back about the illegal alien rally in Rockville. The stench of CASA de Maryland was all over it. CASA also receives charity funds from United Way. And the charity has special programs for automatic "giving" from Federal employees' pay checks. I mention this because I figured ICE agents among others could be contributing to this travesty of justice.
Don't know if the super secret plans to privatize the center will be aired. Believe one city council member plans to recommend this evening that the council meetings be moved up one hour (from 6:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.). That's a good thing as the aforementioned meeting will probably "only" last until 1 a.m. instead of 2 a.m.
My issue remains that the federal govt is who should step in. This is not a business problem, or a local government problem...we have NO border enforcement. These local govts don't know what to do with the laborers, citizens are bitching and so they cme to the conclusion that "containment" is the only solution. As much as we'd love to frame this as a left vs. right fight...it's not. The illegals are here, no one's removing them and thus local govts have to do something to at least contain the problem in a manageable area.
I am well familiar with this scenario. I live in Southern California in a "containment area." We are absolutely LOUSY with charities, all claiming how successful they are because they yearly serve more and more "needy."
Local businesses that use the center, "advocates" is the chosen terminology, compound a bad situation. Since it appears the Feds consider our illegal alien population to be untouchable, they need to concentrate on the advocates employers.
LNewman: "Since it appears the Feds consider our illegal alien population to be untouchable, they need to concentrate on the advocates employers."
Local Governments:
Meanwhile the rumbling continues to slowly increase in volume...
These actions must be part of their culture - the illegal aliens in southern California do the exact same thing. We also complained, and nothing was done. A couple of businesses near the "day laborer center" dried up because the women shoppers wouldn't put up with the rude actions by the illegals, and took their business elsewhere.
If an American citizen peed in public, he would be arrested. California is illegal alien heaven.
A picture truly is worth a thousand words...
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