Lewisville deploys plainclothes officers to police day laborers (The Dallas Morning News)

Lewisville deploys plainclothes officers to police day laborers

09:58 PM CDT on Tuesday, March 18, 2008

By ALEJANDRO MARTÍNEZ and WENDY HUNDLEY / Al Día
amartinez@dallasnews.com; whundley@dallasnews.com

LEWISVILLE – Traffic problems caused by day laborers who go onto the street seeking employment have forced police officials to use plainclothes officers to try to halt the practice, authorities say.

But the undercover operation – now in its sixth month – has caused anxiety among some workers who fear that the police effort may actually be an attempt to catch illegal immigrants.

"This is supposed to be a humanitarian country, a land of union and freedom," said José Rodríguez, who gathers with dozens of other laborers each day at Huffines Plaza in hopes of being hired by passing contractors. "But you go out in fear, and you don't know if you'll make it back home. That's not freedom."

Police say they are simply concerned about safety, not illegal immigration. They say laborers block traffic at Interstate 35E and State Highway 121 when they rush out into the street to meet would-be employers.

"Some [laborers] are not happy with the operation," Lewisville police Capt. Kevin Deaver said Tuesday. "We would hope they would realize that we're also doing this for their safety.

"We're not enforcing immigration, we're just contacting the ones that are breaking the city ordinance and the state law," he added. "Whenever they're in the plaza, we never have contact with them."

Authorities say looking for work in the streets is illegal, but laborers can request jobs on private property like the Huffines Plaza parking lot with the owners' permission – as long as they don't block the roads.

Police have conducted three undercover operations in the past six months, the last on Feb. 28. Six people have been given citations, and 10 others have been arrested on charges of solicitation by a pedestrian, a Class C misdemeanor that carries a maximum $500 fine.

Those who can't provide identification are arrested, Capt. Deaver said. Of the 10 who have been arrested, seven claimed Mexico and three claimed Guatemala as their countries of origin, he said.

Capt. Deaver said none of the people arrested or cited in the operations has been transferred to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

"It's obvious this is not an immigration issue since no one has been referred to ICE," Capt. Deaver said.

Capt. Deaver said an undercover operation is necessary "because they wouldn't come out in the street" if they saw marked police cars approaching, he said. "Our hope is to gain compliance, and we will not have to have the operations."

Dallas lawyer Domingo García said he and others are considering suing the city for racial profiling. He said they will find out if the law that prohibits job searching in the streets targets Hispanics.

"That law is unconstitutional," Mr. García said.

He added that he is trying to forge an agreement with the city of Lewisville similar to one with Garland and Denton, where there are laborer centers that allow workers to meet with potential employers.