Orange Won’t Back Day Laborer Crackdown Indefinitely
Orange Mayor Jess F. Perez said Thursday that he will support only for a limited time the Police Department’s controversial crackdown on day laborers.
“I don’t intend to support an ongoing, uninterrupted enforcement activity like we have now,” Perez said. “We have the rest of the city to police . . . we can’t afford it financially.”
Citing complaints from business owners and school district officials, as well as a crime increase in the El Modena area, police since Feb. 24 have stopped scores of motorists and pedestrians along East Chapman Avenue on misdemeanor violations, such as littering, jaywalking and expired vehicle registration.
About 250 to 300 men, many of them illegal aliens, have been gathering along a one-mile stretch of the road in search of day labor.
If detainees cannot produce identification and police believe they are illegal aliens, they are handed over to the Border Patrol.
Six more were delivered to authorities Thursday, bringing the total to 132 since the crackdown began.
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