Before the sun even rises in Califorina, out of the closing shadows of night, dark and quiet immigrants begin to appear. They are the proflies of working men who rise before the sun rises, each with the hope of obtaining work and earning money to help support their families. These men are usually assumed to be immigrants without the proper paperwork to work in the United States. They are also better known as day laborers.
These so-called “day laborers” come together in groups on street corners or in the parking lots of builders’ stores awaiting the arrival of employers who will hire them for a day’s work. Some cities have tried to ban this type of “recruiting” while others have accepted it as impossible to avoid or prevented.
In Califorina alone there are thousands day laborers ready, willing and able to work each and every day that stand on street corners hoping and praying they will be picked up by someone to work. Some days their prayers are answered and on others they are not.
Before 2001, you saw them everywhere – in hard hats on construction sites, working as landscapers, painters and just about anything else one can imagine. Today, these migrant workers are struggling under a sputtering economy and the harsh glare of the expanding U.S. homeland security system. To add even more problems to their already full plate, the immigration service in Califorina is warning contractors against hiring undocumented day laborers. The warnings are taking a toll on many laborers in north Califorin awho had been getting constant work.
“Unfortunately for everyone, contractors could face fines of up to $1,000 for each occurrence if they fail to fill out the proper immigration forms by the end of the workday.“It’s illegal to hire undocumented immigrants,” stressing that if contractors knowingly employ undocumented workers, fines could then go up to $2,500
Unlike most undocumented individuals who try to avoid attracting attention, day laborers must make themselves...