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Washington Update Day Laborer Sites— You probably see them in your town. If not, rest assured, they're not far off. You may have picked one up yourself for a little yard work or landscaping; maybe a tough moving job that you couldn't handle by yourself. They are called day laborers, and they gather every morning looking for work. Or, rather, the work comes looking for them. Some have legal papers; many do not. The sites where they gather become informal hiring halls; many are also flash points for hate-driven attacks and xenophobia. The good news is that many are also focal points for people of goodwill to defend economic migrants and to welcome the stranger. Last year two migrants were brutally beaten by racist thugs posing as contractors in Farmingville, N.Y. Anti-immigrant groups fanned community discontent over the inevitable deficiencies of the informal site, such as litter and the lack of toilets, and blamed the migrants. They called for arrests and deportations-of the workers, not the assailants! Catholic Charities and others responded more constructively, proposing a proper hiring site-an enclosed building where workers could negotiate wages with a modicum of dignity, where legal information on labor rights and immigration law could be disseminated, where day laborers could access such basic amenities as toilets and trash cans. Simple things that would make a world of difference for both the community and the workers they need. The $80,000 proposal passed the municipal council but was vetoed at the county level by a politician who thought that local government cannot do anything that might help someone who is undocumented! As readers of LIRS's Economic Migration and Border Issues e-mail bulletin know, a national media circus has since pitched its tent in Farmingville as pro- and anti-immigration groups duke it out in rival press conferences and mobilizations. But in other communities across the country, such labor sites have become quiet success stories. People of faith have in many cases taken the lead in developing these facilities, not only fulfilling the biblical mandate to welcome the stranger but simultaneously heading off community friction and ill will toward migrants. Not all advocacy takes the form of giving speeches! Day laborer sites also open up worlds of opportunity for Christian service from basic protection and rights education to skills and language training to health advice and women's services. The possibilities are enormous! How shall we respond?
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