Dispute Continues Over Illegal Track Workers

U.S. immigration officials went public Tuesday in their game of chicken with Del Mar Race Track trainers, saying that they are getting a warrant and will take “appropriate action” if the trainers refuse to help rid the track of illegal aliens.

But the officials declined to set a deadline for the trainers, whom the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has quietly threatened for two years. The trainers employ about 1,500 illegal workers, the largest concentration in San Diego County, according to the INS.

The immigration authorities insisted that Del Mar is not getting special treatment. They said a full-scale raid on the track could drain INS manpower, harm valuable horses and fail to produce a long-term solution.

“We’re not trying to increase our apprehensions,” said John Belluardo, an INS official, after a press conference at the Border Patrol office here. “We’re trying to convince the employers not to hire illegal aliens.”

In response, an official of the group that represents the 200 to 250 trainers managing horses at the track said his organization cannot meet the immigration officials’ demands because it cannot dictate to individual trainers.

“We cannot order the trainers to do anything. Trainers act on their individual needs,” said Bob McAnally, secretary-treasurer of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Assn. (HBPA). “We’re not in a position to demand that the trainer turn over his work list.”

Harold Ezell, regional INS commissioner, said the HBPA has repeatedly refused to give the INS a list of all the grooms, hot-walkers, and other “backside” workers employed by the trainers.

He also accused the trainers of twice breaking an agreement between the INS and the HBPA, under which the trainers were to bring their employees to an INS trailer for checking last week. He said at least one trainer threatened

track security workers trying to carry out the pact.

McAnally said he didn’t know if that was true and couldn’t comment on Ezell’s charge about broken promises since he was “not in on the negotiations.” Ezell suggested the agreement failed because “I don’t think the association speaks for the trainers.”

Ezell and Border Patrol sector chief Alan Eliason said the INS is tired of waiting.

They said they began pressing the trainers two years ago, suggesting that trainers might apply for special permission to hire illegal aliens. Ezell said sheepherders have successfully taken that route, but he said the trainers took no action.

Eliason said, “We have reached the end of our rope. We are being told, ‘Leave us alone, stay out, let us do our thing.’ That is unacceptable.”

INS officials also said the agency would not abandon its efforts when the season ends at Del Mar. They said they would pursue the problem to other tracks.

Nevertheless, Eliason, Ezell and other INS officials remained vague on what they might do. They spoke of “reduced options,” “affirmative action,” and the possibility of “enforcement activity.”

They would not say when they might conduct a raid at the track, though they said they were taking steps to secure a search warrant. “We’re not drawing a line in the sand and saying any one day,” said Eliason.

Eliason said “cooperative agreements” like the one offered to the trainers are notuncommon with the INS. In this case, he said the agency does not want to risk hurting expensive racehorses by removing nearly everyone who takes care of them at one time.

He also said “going into Del Mar” would temporarily drain Border Patrol resources and detract from other operations. Belluardo said a raid would resolve the problem only momentarily; the illegal workers would return and trainers would continue to hire them.

On Monday night, the HBPA held its own press conference, at which officials said they were asking the INS for time to address the problem. They said they were opening a hiring hall, trying to hire legal help, and beginning efforts to get temporary permits for their workers.

But Ezell said those steps don’t address the immediate problem--that as much as 75% of the backside work force is illegal. He insisted the trainers must turn over a list of employees before the INS would be satisfied that the trainers are cooperating.