Documents show Laguna encouraged foreigners to use Day Labor Site, had
unspoken oath not to call immigration authorities.
Anti-illegal immigration activist Eileen Garcia got what she
believes is proof that Laguna Beach has become a “sanctuary city”
for illegal's Tuesday when attorneys on both sides of Garcia’s suit
against Laguna Beach mutually submitted a list of facts to the
Orange County Superior Court.
One item in the lengthy list of 48 facts includes text of a bulletin
handed out to day laborers by the Laguna Beach Police Department in
1993 when the center was established. The bulletin was printed in
Spanish and English and encouraged workers to use the site instead
of soliciting work on the street.
“We want to help you find work so that you can stay here or send
money to your loved ones back home,” the document stated.
Another item quotes City Manager Ken Frank saying that when the
center began, there was an “unspoken arrangement that we would not
be calling in the [Immigration and Naturalization Service]...
they’re cooperating by going to a location that’s less of a problem
and we’re cooperating by not calling INS.”
(INS refers to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which has
since been replaced by ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.)
Garcia sees this as an admission by the city that many of the
workers using the center are undocumented immigrants.
“It all adds up to saying that Laguna
Beach is a sanctuary,” Garcia said. “You don’t call INS on legal
residents, so why would the INS even be brought up unless Ken Frank
thought there was some reason to think they are illegal.”
Garcia contends that, if the city is aware that
illegal's are served at the center, the city is breaking the law.
Bob Owen, the Rutan & Tucker attorney representing Laguna Beach in
the case, says these are far from admissions of illegal activity on
the part of the city.
“There’s no law that says what we’re doing is illegal,” Owen said.
The list also includes a tally of the city grants given to the South
County Cross Cultural Council, the nonprofit group that operates the
center on a day-to-day basis. Garcia’s lawsuit demands that the city
stop using taxpayer money for the Day Labor Site.
Owen defends the use of city funds, saying they are for the benefit
of the community as well as the workers.
The city provides a place for workers to go in order to keep a safe
environment for workers, employers and city residents alike.
Owen contends that, furthermore, the city has never done anything to
specifically help illegal immigrants because the site is open for
anyone to use — legal or not.
Owen compared the city’s contribution to the center to Laguna’s free
summer trolley program — a free program that’s open to the public.
Conservative law group Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit on behalf of
Garcia, an anti-immigration activist, and her husband, George
Riviere, in October 2006.
The suit aims to shut down the Laguna Beach day labor center, which
the plaintiffs say aids illegal immigrants in getting jobs with the
help of Laguna taxpayer funds.
The city’s stance is that while it has spent city money on
improvements to the site and has given grants — $166,500 since 1999
— to the South County Cross Cultural Council that operates the
service, the expenditures don’t break the law.
(My words here: What this writer
fails to mention is that in addition to the grant monies the
city also pays ALL the expenses for the DLS including; rent, water,
trash pick up, porta potties, and insurance. This amount adds up to
approx. $20,000 yearly. So, 8 years x $20,000 yearly is an
ADDITIONAL $160,000. And it all comes out of taxpayer's funds!)
If Judicial Watch succeeds in shuttering the Laguna Beach day labor
center, it could provide precedent for closing similar centers
across the United States, Owen said.
“If they’re right, then nowhere in the
country can there be a Day Labor Site,” Owen said. “Ever.”
The case will go before Judge Gregory Munoz for oral
arguments Nov. 16.
To view the entire document that this new story
refers to go to this link:
http://gilchristangels.com/StatementOfFacts.pdf