Orange : Dayworker Hiring Hall Will Be Established
In the latest attempt to rid the streets of day laborers seeking employment, the City Council voted 5 to 0 this week to establish an outdoor hiring hall, city officials said Tuesday.
The hall will be on city property along McPherson Road north of Chapman Avenue and is expected to open within 2 or 3 months, Mayor Don Smith said. Workers using the hall must be able to prove that they can work legally in this country or are eligible for amnesty, Smith said.
City officials will review the hall operation after a few months to determine if it is working. “If it’s not working at all, it will be abandoned,” Smith said.
Dayworkers have congregated on the streets of Orange for years while immigration activists have urged the city to provide a hiring hall.
In March, U.S. Border Patrol agents swept Chapman Avenue near Hewes Street in Orange and arrested 140 dayworkers who were unable to produce legal residency documents. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials said the sweep was prompted by complaints that the workers harass people, block business entrances and urinate in public.
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