Jeremy Redmon writes in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Hiring off the curb? Not in Marietta:
Marietta police busted Lee Chalfant as soon as the day laborer climbed into his pickup truck.
Chalfant, a home remodeler, said he was hiring the man to help him clean up construction debris from a work site. He picked him up last year just off Powder Springs Street, in an area bustling with young Hispanic men looking for work.
But for eight years, Marietta has been quietly enforcing the same law, targeting the people who hire day laborers. City police have handed out tickets to builders, landscapers and even homeowners seeking help with lawn work. Their reasons for hiring the day laborers vary, but their actions continue to fuel debate on the issue of illegal immigration. That’s because, correctly or not, many presume the majority of day laborers are illegal immigrants.
Jose Luis Jiménez writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune, Day-labor registry will stay secret, judge rules:
The city of Vista was barred yesterday from releasing the identities of employers registered under the city’s day-laborer law, after a judge decided their right to privacy trumps the public’s right to know.
“The information requested . . . has little to do with how the city of Vista is enforcing the ordinance,” the judge said. “The public interest level in this case . . . is quantitatively less than all the other public interest cases I have been asked to review.”
Eunice Moscoso writes for Cox News Service, U.S. Courts Strike Down Immigration Ordinances:
Cities and groups trying to crack down on illegal immigration are finding an obstacle to their efforts — U.S. courts.
A string of recent judicial decisions have invalidated many tough ordinances, including those trying to crackdown on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and employers who hire them.
A federal ruling that struck down an immigration ordinance in Hazleton, Pa., has created a ripple effect, stopping other cities from approving or enacting similar measures until the case makes its way up the judicial chain.
Similar laws in Escondido, Calif., Farmers Branch, Texas, and a few other cities have also been invalidated or put on hold by federal courts.
In Herndon, Va., an anti-solicitation ordinance that targeted illegal immigrant day laborers was struck down by a circuit court judge who ruled that it violated the First Amendment.
Earlier this month, a federal court in San Francisco put on hold a Department of Homeland Security effort to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, angering groups who seek tougher enforcement. The government was planning to deliver thousands of letters to companies warning of workers with potentially false Social Security numbers. Businesses that ignore the letters could be fined up to $10,000 per employee or face criminal prosecution.