Mortified, but happy to hire
STOP ME IF you've heard this one before. Some time ago, immigrant men invaded our tranquil municipality. As long as they quietly toiled, residents tolerated their presence. But once these hombres went out on the town, people became furious.
"Their numbers, appearances and were
strange and frightening," wrote one observer. Employers had to teach them how to use restrooms; after payday, the men swarmed into stores, frightening customers and merchants. Eventually, the county fathers tired of the hired hands and had the guys shipped back to their home countries, much to the delight of everyone except the workers.
Sounds like a fevered Tom Tancredodream, no? But the reviled laborers weren't illegal immigrants or even Mexicans; they were about 1,600 Jamaicans who arrived in Orange County during the 1940s at the invitation of farmers.
Refry this anecdote for a bit when considering the war Orange County has waged against day laborers the past couple of years. Costa Mesa kicked it off in 2006 by shuttering a city-run day-laborer center, largely at the behest of Mayor Allan Mansoor. In March, the Lake Forest City Council repealed an anti-solicitation law aimed to drive day laborers away from the town after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit. Mission Viejo and Dana Point passed no-trespassing laws aimed at harassing day laborers after receiving complaints from residents that too many Latino men were congregating near businesses and street corners. In Dana Point, council members allowed anyone to make a citizen's arrests if they saw someone loitering in the city.
A similar skirmish occurred in Laguna Beach, with reversed roles. This time, the City Council fended off a lawsuit filed by anti-immigrant activists that sought to cut off city funding to a day laborer hiring site nestled in beautiful Laguna Canyon, a spot where regular protests against bewildered Latinos draw everyone from gray-haired patriots to young adults sporting Confederate gray caps.
The latest city to join the battle is Orange. Last week, the City Council passed a slew of ordinances that make it nearly impossible for day laborers to find work.
People in Orange cannot solicit on sidewalks next to streets without parking lanes or wave down cars in traffic, on a driveway or on a median. Day laborers can still loll around on private property, but they need the owner's written permission -- and anyone who allows more than five day laborers to find work on their property must apply for a permit under penalty of fines and jail time. Council members complained that the men -- sometimes numbering in the dozens -- urinated in public, intimidated women and ruined the quality of life in town.
