Plan would regulate day labor hires - News

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Jul. 20, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Plan would regulate day labor hires

Mayor says workers and employers will be safer, businesses happier

By DAVID McGRATH SCHWARTZ
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Day laborers speak with a potential employer at the corner of Rancho Drive and Bonanza Road in this file photo. The city of Las Vegas is considering requiring people who hire day laborers to get a permit.
REVIEW-JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Those hiring the day laborers who are a common sight near valley home improvement stores and nurseries would be required to get a city permit under a plan being contemplated at Las Vegas City Hall.

Mayor Oscar Goodman said Thursday that the city is delving into the issue because businesses "complain bitterly" about the workers congregating outside.

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"They defecate, they urinate," Goodman said at his weekly news conference. "It's not nice what's happening out there. They intimidate people who are customers at locations, thrust themselves on them."

Another reason behind the permits is to protect the workers, who have been robbed and sometimes aren't paid, the mayor said.

City staff has been examining the issue for about four months with the goal of protecting workers, those hiring them, and the businesses where the laborers gather, city spokesman David Riggleman said.

The plan is in the "seminal state. It's not in cement. We're working on it, massaging it," Goodman said. But one aim is to reduce the number of day laborers, he said.

Goodman suggested the permits would be offered for a nominal fee of $5 and last for an extended period of time. The permits would be accompanied by information on safety and paying Social Security taxes.

Day laborers waiting in front of nurseries, Home Depots, Lowe's stores and along certain streets, like Bonanza Road, have become a visible reminder to many of the contentious battle over immigration.

The proposal drew a mixed response from members of the Hispanic community.

"This is ridiculous, right up there with chopping people's thumbs off," said Vicenta Montoya, an immigration lawyer. "Oscar, what the hell are you doing?"

It's only a small, if vocal, minority of residents who see day laborers as a problem, she said. "If you don't want to hire those people, go right by. People find it offensive because too many brown faces are congregating at a corner."

If there are problems with people urinating and defecating, portable bathrooms could be provided. This is an area where government doesn't need to get involved, she said.

"We have a tendency to over-regulate behavior that shouldn't be regulated."

Xavier Rivas, who hosts a daily radio talk show on KRLV-AM 1340, said members of the Hispanic community have been looking at setting up sites where laborers could be picked up or dropped off.

Otto Merida, president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, said he sees some value in the idea.

Day laborers have been beaten, left in the middle of nowhere or not been paid, he said.

"If people were to actually have $5 permits, we will know who they are, and it could make a difference."

The permits, Riggleman said, "could be an enforcement tool when people are creating a negative impact on an area. ... This gives police some means of trying to ease encroachment on properties, or impacts on businesses."

The city's plan would attempt to cut into the demand for day laborers, instead of the supply.

The threat of a citation could reduce the number of people picking up day laborers and limit how many people are willing to wait outside for work, Goodman said.

Municipal ordinances in other cities that have attempted to reduce the number of day laborers with laws targeting them for loitering have been ruled unconstitutional, the mayor said.

In revealing the proposal Thursday, Goodman appeared to have bypassed any controlled or coordinated effort to reveal the plan.

Riggleman stressed that any new rules would be down the road, and accompanied by a public information campaign.

"There's a heck of a lot more work to do before we move forward," he said.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. S Pattinson wrote on July 23, 2007 08:48 AM: Enough is enough !!!!! Ms. Montoya's comments just perpetuates the arrogance of the illegal population here. These people are a problem, we DO NOT want to provide any services for them. . none! We want them OUT if they are illegal. . All of them back to thier prospective countries. Let them build their future for thier children there !!! Mr. Mayor It is a LARGE majority that want the issues of illegals to end with deporting them back to there origin countries and that is the ONLY way we will save all communities from thriving to becoming barrios L Nelson wrote on July 22, 2007 04:25 PM: More pandering of illegals. How about more inforcement of US laws instead. Will wrote on July 22, 2007 01:54 PM: Defination of illegal: Lawbreaker and, or, Criminal. Illegal is illegal, is illegal. Anyone who does not get this needs to go back to school. Enforce our existing laws on the books. PATRIOT FOR THE PEOPLE wrote on July 21, 2007 11:16 PM: FROM THE ITALIAN MAFIA TO THE MEXICAN MAFIA HOW MUCH $$$ AND METH IS HE GETTING? KT wrote on July 21, 2007 11:13 PM: WE THE LEGAL AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL REMOVE goodman FROM OFFICE. YOU CAN COUNT ON IT NRS 266.430 NRS 283.040 IMPEACHMENT NRS 283.140 Officers liable to impeachment. Any state officer, created by state law, shall be liable for impeachment for any misdemeanor in office. [1911 Cr. Prac. § 28; RL § 6878; NCL § 10675] NRS 283.300 NRS 283.440 NRS 283.450 s-p wrote on July 21, 2007 12:29 PM: can anyone fill in the blank- R-E-V-O-L-U-T-I-O- p-rump wrote on July 21, 2007 12:27 PM: "what we need now is a nation of Minutemen".Open your eyes my fellow Americans- It's coming! Colten wrote on July 21, 2007 11:57 AM: Aaron, True, we have enough crime of our own to deal with, that is more reason why we do not need more criminals to add to the list. Illegals committ a crime when they cross our borders, then that crime leads to more crime, document fraud, driving without a liscence, uninsured, of course that is the mild crimes just to name a few. Every American killed by illegals, would be living today if our laws had been enforced, and those illegals had not been here. Period... Sheila King wrote on July 21, 2007 11:14 AM: Steve You hit the nail on the head. If illegal employers were severely penalized as they are supposed to be, and all the free financial aid was cut off,,they would no longer have a reason to be here and would leave. They are not here because they want to assimilate, or because they love americans. What makes me boil, is when they demand the rights they do not deserve and do not have. Get it everyone,, they are not a U.S. citizen and therefore have no rights. Steve Kaldi wrote on July 21, 2007 06:38 AM: Just follow the laws on the books... If you are illegal, NO WORK...they will leave, we will not have to deport anyone. No jobs, they go ! Read All Comments