Day Laborers Enter Fray Over Job Site

If approved by the Town Council, a new location would be created in a parking lot abutting a residential area on the Loudoun County border. The council has said it would pass an ordinance making it a misdemeanor to solicit jobs elsewhere.

The debate on the proposal continues to be rancorous and emotional. People began lining up 2 1/2 hours ahead of time to be sure they could sign up to speak.

Many opponents waved placards reading "Illegal aliens displace U.S. workers," "Stop rewarding illegals" and "Enforce immigration laws."

Beside them were several dozen day laborers who had been bused to the hearing by Reston Interfaith, a nonprofit group that would help run the site. They carried signs saying "No human being is illegal," "Open your hearts to the poor and the needy" and "9/11 terrorists were all here legally."

"They think we're bad people, that we cause problems," said Hector Sandoval, 25, who has been a day laborer since arriving from El Salvador eight months ago. "It's not true. We just want to work so we can survive."

The $280,000 annual cost for the site would be paid with both tax dollars and private donations. Project Hope and Harmony, an umbrella group which would operate the site, has requested about $175,000 in public money.

Many residents have said they worry that their property values would decrease if hundreds of day laborers were hanging around and that their safety would be jeopardized by large numbers of strangers walking to the site through their neighborhoods.

Complaints at the current site range from public drunkenness to harassment of passersby.

Several residential groups formed to oppose the project have acknowledged that they have little chance of blocking it. But they hope to persuade the council to enact several ground rules.

Most prominent among them would be the requirement that its use be limited to day laborers with documents to prove they are in the country legally. Supporters of the plan say that responsibility falls on the contractors' shoulders and that requiring it at the day laborer site would effectively doom it.

A council hearing, and a tentative vote, is scheduled for Aug. 16.