US District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall has ordered the city of Redondo Beach to stop arresting illegal immigrants.
Redondo Beach is the latest city to crack down on day laborers, but this seaside town has been particularly aggressive. Police have cited or arrested 63 day laborers and seven potential customers since the beginning of October, the city attorney's office said.Officials argue that laborers are a public nuisance because they halt pedestrian and auto traffic, cause littering problems and hassle passersby at the two street corners where they congregate.
Plus, you know, those pesky federal immigration laws. Fortunately there's a federal judge willing to step in and rewrite all the local, state, and federal laws at a moment's notice -- all in the name of upholding the Constitution of course.
Judge Consuelo B. Marshall said Monday that her injunction would stay in effect until the case goes through the courts. The decision came after Marshall had expressed misgivings about Redondo Beach's actions last week, suggesting that the city unfairly singles out day laborers.
So, if I understand this correctly, the request for injunction was filed after the judge already "expressed misgivings" about the practice? That doesn't sound fishy at all!
Redondo Beach's ordinance prohibits people from standing on "roadways, parkways, medians, alleys, sidewalks, curbs and public ways" to solicit work, hawk goods or seek donations from drivers. The ordinance also makes it illegal for drivers to stop to hire workers. Violators face fines, and those without valid identification must stay in jail until they go to court. ..."We think that today's case will send a clear message to other municipalities around California that arresting day laborers is not the best way to respond to concerns that communities have about day laborers' practices," said Chris Newman, an organizer with the National Day Laborers Organizing Network.
The best way to respond would be to instantly deport them, but alas, I bet Judge Marshall would have "misgivings" about that as well.
After Monday's hearing, Angel Sanchez, 50, who was one of the day laborers arrested in Redondo Beach's stings, said that soliciting work was the only way for him to find employment. He came to the United States from Ecuador five years ago and overstayed his visa."It's not fair that I was arrested," he said. "I wasn't doing anything wrong. I have to support my two children and my mother."
It's not fair that you overstayed your visa! Holy crap, get a freaking clue. You are doing something wrong! You're not supposed to be in the country at all, much less soliciting work on the streets of Redondo Beach!
(HT: Rough & Tumble, a great California news site.)
Ridiculous. The problem with judges is they have no private place of business so they can't relate to business owners and their take on having a bunch of illegals aliens hanging out loitering in front of their building.
Isn't loitering illegal? maybe they can arrest them for that.
Possible solution: open immigration for all non-criminals, with a probationary period of five years, during which they cannot access welfare/SS and must keep their noses clean.
D: Maybe the judges would feel differently if the illegals were hanging around their courthouses!
RT: Enforcement nightmare. Even the current visa program is completely abused, imagine something similar with an unlimited number of people.