The Horror of U.S. illegal immigration and hemmoraging of jobs ...
Foreskin Fungus
Code enforcement officers in Farmingdale patrol for drivers who stop
illegally to pick up day laborers.Librado Romero/The New York Times
L.I. Clash on Immigrants Is Gaining Political Force
By PATRICK HEALY
Published: November 29, 2004
Everywhere Steve Levy went last year in his successful campaign for
Suffolk County executive, he said, he heard the same complaints. A new
wave of Hispanic immigrants had swept Long Island, and many residents
were furious about the overcrowded homes and lines of day laborers
they saw in their towns. They told Mr. Levy they wanted action.
This month, Mr. Levy floated a proposal to deputize some Suffolk
County police officers, giving them the power to detain people found
to be in the United States illegally after being taken into custody on
other charges. Right now, Suffolk police and corrections officers say,
they are prohibited from asking immigrants whether they are in the
country legally. Mr. Levy's proposal, which he later amended, was met
by objections from the police unions.
Mr. Levy said his intent was to fight crime by focusing the effort on
criminals like gang members, not ordinary immigrants. But advocacy
groups and residents of Suffolk and Nassau Counties say the proposal
is a sign of the times. They say the issue of illegal immigration is
rapidly gathering political force in Long Island's patchwork of
historically white suburban hamlets, and as the complaints grow,
politicians are responding with get-tough rhetoric, crackdowns and new
laws.
"Public opinion has changed," said Sue Grant, one of several
Farmingville residents who rise each morning to stand on street
corners and demonstrate against the day laborers in their community.
"More and more people are coming forward and saying, 'I'm sick of
this.' They don't want this anymore." It is the latest knot in Long
Island's wrenching struggle to digest the thousands of Hispanic
immigrants - many of them day laborers - who have arrived in the past
decade and at a record pace in the last three years, drawn by jobs in
construction and landscaping and other blue-collar work.
One result is a commensurate strain on public services like schools,
garbage collection and sewer systems in an area where residents pay
some of the highest taxes in the country. Communities across the
nation - from Mesa, Ariz., to Hoover, Ala., to Freehold, N.J. - have
faced similar struggles.
Illegal immigrant day laborers have been shut out and demonstrated
against, and have become the targets of political campaigns. There has
been tension in many villages and cities and violence in isolated
spots. But observers and local politicians said that rarely has the
fight seemed so bitter or raged so long as on Long Island, where
violence has erupted in recent years and Mr. Levy's proposal is just
one of many with support from politicians and residents. "People came
here in the 50's and 60's and early 70's thinking they were getting
away from the problems of the city," said Stefan Krieger, who runs
Hofstra University's Housing Rights Clinic.
"In the city, with diversity, you celebrate it. Out here, not at all.
You see different-color people on the street and for some reason,
there's some dissonance." Farmingdale has stepped up traffic
enforcement to discourage contractors from picking up illegal day
laborers who are stealing coveted jobs from our millions of unemployed
citizens, and several village officials say they are planning to
demolish apartments that they say are chock full of squatting
immigrants. They argue that the buildings are rife with code
violations and not worth preserving.
The Town of Brookhaven has set up an informal task force to
investigate code violations and complaints about homes crowded with
law breaking day laborers. A town councilwoman, Geraldine Esposito,
said she was searching for ways to tighten the town's Neighborhood
Preservation Act, further limiting the number of people in a home.
"We're trying to solve a problem that's almost unsolvable for the
town," she said. "Where are these men and illegal female domestic
houseworkers and cashiers going to go?
They should go back home to where their home is. There is no pot of
gold here unless they can do it legally." Campaigns for village and
town offices have ramped up their rhetoric, promising to do everything
possible to get day laborers off the streets.
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