Day-labor bill rejected; may resurface

The Associated Press

Published: 05.23.2008

PHOENIX - The Arizona Senate dealt at least a temporary setback to efforts to place new restraints on day laborers.

The Senate narrowly rejected a bill Thursday prohibiting day laborers from seeking work on public streets and sidewalks and private property under some circumstances.

With seven senators absent before the long Memorial Day weekend, supporters fell one vote short of the number needed for passage. A reconsideration vote could be held next week when more senators are on hand.

Arizona, Colorado pursue state guest worker plans

The Associated Press

Published: 03.14.2008

PHOENIX — As a labor contractor in the nation's winter lettuce capital, Francisco Chavez struggles to hire enough workers to pick and package the produce.

Last year, ripe romaine sometimes went bad in the fields around Yuma, Ariz., because Chavez didn't have enough people to harvest the crop, which must be picked by hand. "That's my challenge — to get the crews," he said.

Such complaints are becoming so common that lawmakers in Arizona and Colorado are considering creating their own guest-worker programs to attract more immigrant laborers. It's unclear whether states have the authority to adopt such measures, but legislators are tired of waiting for Congress to overhaul the immigration system — and they are taking matters into their own hands.

State Sen. Abel Tapia, the Democratic co-author of the Colorado proposal, lashed out at Washington: "You had your chance to do a comprehensive immigration package a year ago, and you didn't do it, and I can't imagine that you will have anything by 2010, so what are we to do in the meantime?"

The federal government has run guest-worker programs for more than a century, but congressional efforts to overhaul the system stalled in 2006 and 2007.

Immigration measures move ahead at Capitol

Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 19, 2008 12:00 AM

Arizona's conflicted views on immigration surfaced Monday at the state Capitol, as a bill that would create a guest-worker program and another that would make it harder for day laborers to solicit work both won approval in their first outing.

It's the first round of immigration-related bills to be debated by lawmakers. A third measure, which would add illegal immigrants to the list of groups prohibited from carrying a gun in Arizona, died on a tie vote that broke along party lines.

For the second year in a row, Rep. John Kavanagh is pushing a bill that would allow police to cite people for criminal trespass if they are found to be actively soliciting work and disrupting traffic to do so.

It's an attempt to break up the huddles of day laborers who seek work by standing on sidewalks at busy intersections. The practice has been typified by last year's standoffs in front of Pruitts Furniture Store in Phoenix, as people seeking day-labor jobs blocked the entrances to the business and spurred counterprotests.

Day-labor controversy simmers on back burner

Complaints are fading about workers who congregate at a downtown parking lot looking for temporary jobs

By Matthew Rodriguez and Kristina Davis
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
February 17, 2008

On a recent Saturday morning, several men gathered in the parking lot of a busy Vons shopping center in downtown Vista, eager for a day's work.

When a potential employer pulled up beside them, the hiring process only took seconds as two day laborers hopped into the back seat and the car sped away.

Before taking the jobs, neither worker asked whether the employer was registered with the city or had a written job description, something city law mandates. Only a handful of workers on that recent Saturday said they were aware of such requirements.

“They don't want to pay us a lot of money,” day laborer Blas Bazan said, referring to why some employers might not hand out what are called term sheets that describe the job, rate of pay, transportation and the employer's contact information.

More than 18 months and two lawsuits have transpired since a controversial day-labor hiring law was enacted in Vista, and questions remain about the intentions of the ordinance and whether the goals of the ordinance have been achieved.

State Appeals Court rules against owner of Pruitt's

Michael Kiefer

The Arizona Republic
Dec. 25, 2007 11:18 PM

The Arizona Court of Appeals has turned down a Phoenix furniture store owner's ongoing request to make police arrest day workers soliciting business near his property.

M.D. Pruitt's Home Furnishings on Thomas Road in Phoenix has been the scene of pro- and anti-immigration demonstrations for more than a year since its owner, Roger Sensing, first hired off-duty Phoenix police officers and then Maricopa County sheriff's deputies to keep day workers off the premises.

In August 2006, Sensing filed suit in Maricopa County Superior Court against Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris for failing to enforce a city ordinance that prohibits solicitation on city streets. A Superior Court judge dismissed the case in February, and Sensing appealed.

On Dec. 20, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower-court decision, saying that such law-enforcement decisions are discretionary, not mandated, and therefore not subject to court orders.

Yuma group suing farm labor contractor for hiring foreigners

Dec. 22, 2007 12:54 PM

Associated Press

YUMA - A farm labor contractor is being sued for allegedly hiring foreign workers under a special visa program and bypassing its existing pool of U.S. farmworkers.

The suit filed in federal court Phoenix this week accuses the contractor and its client of abusing a special visa system designed to help farmers bring in foreign workers when American workers can't be found.

Lawyers for Yuma-based Community Legal Services wrote in their filing that contractor Servicios Agricolas Mex. Inc. bypassed the pool of workers it had used for years to save money during the 2006 Arizona citrus harvest.

Last Pruitt's immigration protest of year rowdy on both sides

Lynh Bui

The Arizona Republic
Dec. 22, 2007 01:41 PM

Christmas carols blaring from one side and the National Anthem playing on another. American flags waving high from one end of a street and posters bashing Sheriff Joe Arpaio less than a hundred feet away.

It was part of the scene near 35th Street and Thomas Road in Phoenix this morning as protesters on both sides of the immigration debate gathered for the last Saturday this year outside of M.D. Pruitt's Home Furnishings.

Every Saturday for almost two months, protesters have demonstrated outside of the furniture store after Pruitt's owner Roger Sensing hired off-duty police to keep day laborers off his property. Laborer advocate Salvador Reza began organizing the weekly protests to boycott the store and rally support for day laborers.

Day-laborer supporters set for City Hall march

Casey Newton

The Arizona Republic
Dec. 19, 2007 12:00 AM

The group protesting a furniture store's use of off-duty sheriff's deputies to enforce trespassing laws against day laborers will lead a march today from M.D. Pruitt's Home Furnishings to City Hall.

Starting at 9 a.m., the 35th St. and Thomas Organizing Committee will lead a march from Pruitt's in east Phoenix to 200 W. Washington. They expect to arrive in time for the City Council meeting at 3 p.m.

The march is designed to draw attention to the situation at Pruitt's, organizer Angeles Maldonado said.

Pruitt's owner, Roger Sensing, asked Maricopa County sheriff's deputies to patrol the area around his business this fall after it became a magnet for day laborers. Sensing said the laborers trespass on his property and disrupt his business