AP: Day Laborers Win Racial Lawsuit

[Eugene]

Day Laborers Win Racial Lawsuit

By JIM FITZGERALD
The Associated Press
Monday, November 20, 2006; 9:43 PM

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A suburban village discriminated against Hispanic day
laborers when it closed a hiring site and stepped up police patrols on the
streets where they looked for work, a federal judge ruled Monday.

"Since August 2004, and continuing into this past summer, the defendants have
engaged in a campaign designed to drive out the Latino day laborers who gather
on the streets of Mamaroneck to seek work," Judge Colleen McMahon wrote. "The
fact that the day laborers were Latinos, and not whites, was, at least in part,
a motivating factor in defendants' actions."

McMahon did not specify a remedy for the village of Mamaroneck, about 25 miles
north of New York City, giving the two sides 10 days to make suggestions. And
in a footnote at the end of the decision, she suggested there was still time
for a settlement.

-snip-

Six Hispanic immigrant workers _ all identified as John Doe for fear of retaliation
by police or immigration authorities _ took the village to court in September,
seeking an injunction against what they called selective law enforcement and
ethnic discrimination. They said the village violated their right to equal protection
when they cracked down on the laborers.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/20/AR2006112000862.html

[silverojo]

1. Oh, for crying out loud!

What whiny crybabies! If whites, blacks, or Asians hung out in parking lots, looking for work, we'd be busted for loitering on the property. Can you imagine if a bunch of TEENAGERS did such a thing? The cops would be called in no time!

The only "ethnic law discrimination" going on here is a bunch of whiny Latinos being given special treatment for doing things that people of all other races (or ages) would be arrested for.

Whatever happened to picking up a copy of your local newspaper to get jobs? Or PLACING an ad in the paper, or distributing flyers or business cards? That's what honest landscapers and handymen do....

[Solon]

2. You do realize its not just Latinos who work day labor, right?

I've hung out at these sites, at 5 in the morning, HOPING they would have something for me to do, never been harassed by police, nor kicked off the property, etc. There would be 20 people, of all shapes and colors, hanging out so they could have a job for, hopefully, 8 hours. I stood in line outside places like Labor Ready, hoping they have a good factory job for me, hopefully a weekly job, shit like that. Don't knock it till you have to do it, otherwise you just speak from ignorance.

[UncleSepp]

3. If nobody hired day labor, nobody would stand waiting for it

Sometimes, that's the best way to get a short job done. If you've got applications in and you're waiting for a permanent job offer, is it better to sit on your ass at home, or get out and earn some money? If you answered #1, you might want to think back on what it was like when you were living day to day.