RedCeltic
22nd June 2005, 16:36
Four miles from my house (6.4k) in the small village of Farmingville (Long Island) New York, is the front lines of the battle over immigrant day workers. The busy intersection of North Ocean Avenue and Horseblock road in Farmingville has gained national interest as Americans battle over the issue of immigration to the U.S.
For years the busy intersection has been the focal point for immigrant day laborers to congregate in the early mornings waiting employers (landscaping, construction, etc) to pick them up and give them work for the day. The intersection is fairly well located in the center of the island and near the Long Island Expressway so that employers traveling west to New York City or East to Montauk Point can easily swing by the intersection to pick up a few day laborers.
This has spurred an intense battle over the past few years between local residents of Farmingville who want the local government to do something about them as they view the laborers as an “eyesore,” and civil rights groups, unions, and religious groups who assert that workers regardless of legal status deserve human rights and dignity. A proposal for a “hiring hall” had been proposed a few years ago that would provide more safety, human dignity, and at the same time remove the “unsightly” spectacle of hundreds of day laborers congregating at the intersection. The proposal however was venomously shot down by local residents however who saw the proposal as legitimizing undocumented workers.
The battle has intensified over the past few days when a “flop house” had been raided and closed down for renting a single family home to over 40 day workers. Yesterday, (Monday June 21) the workers were locked out of the house without being provided the ability to secure their belongings, or without being provided an alternate place to live. The town of Brookhaven asserted that it was Suffolk County’s problem, while the county insisted that it was the town’s duty to secure housing for them. A local immigrant civil rights group tried to get a catholic charities group involved in helping, yet the Catholics claim their shelters are all already overcrowded and that they had been asked to help after the workers were thrown out in the streets.
Local residents who have been battling with the local government to do something are overjoyed that these workers are now homeless. They hope that law enforcement continues this form of action in order to “send these people back to where they came from.” It seems that the local residents are so full of hatred for the day workers that the workers no longer qualify in their minds as humans.
This all seems to be very consistent with the political climate in the United States, that only those who hold American citizenship are deserving of human/civil rights, dignity and respect.
For years the busy intersection has been the focal point for immigrant day laborers to congregate in the early mornings waiting employers (landscaping, construction, etc) to pick them up and give them work for the day. The intersection is fairly well located in the center of the island and near the Long Island Expressway so that employers traveling west to New York City or East to Montauk Point can easily swing by the intersection to pick up a few day laborers.
This has spurred an intense battle over the past few years between local residents of Farmingville who want the local government to do something about them as they view the laborers as an “eyesore,” and civil rights groups, unions, and religious groups who assert that workers regardless of legal status deserve human rights and dignity. A proposal for a “hiring hall” had been proposed a few years ago that would provide more safety, human dignity, and at the same time remove the “unsightly” spectacle of hundreds of day laborers congregating at the intersection. The proposal however was venomously shot down by local residents however who saw the proposal as legitimizing undocumented workers.
The battle has intensified over the past few days when a “flop house” had been raided and closed down for renting a single family home to over 40 day workers. Yesterday, (Monday June 21) the workers were locked out of the house without being provided the ability to secure their belongings, or without being provided an alternate place to live. The town of Brookhaven asserted that it was Suffolk County’s problem, while the county insisted that it was the town’s duty to secure housing for them. A local immigrant civil rights group tried to get a catholic charities group involved in helping, yet the Catholics claim their shelters are all already overcrowded and that they had been asked to help after the workers were thrown out in the streets.
Local residents who have been battling with the local government to do something are overjoyed that these workers are now homeless. They hope that law enforcement continues this form of action in order to “send these people back to where they came from.” It seems that the local residents are so full of hatred for the day workers that the workers no longer qualify in their minds as humans.
This all seems to be very consistent with the political climate in the United States, that only those who hold American citizenship are deserving of human/civil rights, dignity and respect.