Carlsbad Considering Migrant Hiring Hall

Following the lead of Encinitas, the Carlsbad City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to study the possibility of opening a hiring hall for migrant workers, to help alleviate growing unrest between residents and migrants looking for jobs.

Mayor Bud Lewis’ proposal, which will be studied by the city staff, would establish a temporary employment hall for migrants who have legal status in the United States. The staff report, which is due in two months, also will delve into the possibility of establishing a regional hiring center.

Lewis suggested county-owned land at El Camino Real and Palomar Airport Road as a possible hiring hall site, which is only 4 miles from the Encinitas hiring hall. Lewis also proposed that a busing program be instituted to make the hall more accessible.

But Lewis said the proposal is not the entire solution.

“Many of the workers are illegal, and this will not solve that problem,” Lewis said. “The idea is to get those that are (legally) here to become part of the community and be employed and find housing.”

Lewis said the city has little latitude in dealing with undocumented workers, adding that only federal officials have that authority.

“This plan does not even make a dent in the problem, but if other cities feel that this is beneficial, maybe we could put some dents throughout the area,” Lewis said.

“Maybe there’s some cooperative efforts with other agencies that would make sense,” Assistant City Manager Frank Mannen said. Mannen said employment services have traditionally been a state responsibility, but cooperation with other cities and the county are also being considered.

The proposal comes on the heels of recent confrontations between migrant laborers and residents in areas where the laborers gather and wait for offers of work. Two men are accused of kidnaping a migrant worker outside a store on Jan. 3, handcuffing him and gagging him with duct tape.

The Encinitas hiring hall opened in late November has had moderate success in dealing with tensions between residents and migrants.

More than 500 workers have registered at the temporary hiring hall, with more than half of them placed in jobs since Nov. 29, said Gloria Carranza, the city’s transients’ issues coordinator.

But the city continues to have a problem with undocumented workers, Encinitas Councilwoman Marjorie Gaines said.

“In terms of providing a place for people who are legally residents here to find work, and for those who are seeking day labor to hire people, it is doing quite well,” Gaines said.

The hiring hall also supplies potential employers with a pool of workers with legal U.S. residency.

“The thing that has not happened is that it has not eliminated the problem that we have of the people who are here illegally seeking jobs on the streets,” Gaines said.

Carranza said 60 people a day arrive at the hall, about half of whom are placed in jobs. About a third of the jobs are permanent, Carranza said.

Carranza said Latino migrants are not the only ones served by the center, and that non-Latinos have also received help at the hiring hall, temporarily located in a motor home at El Camino Real and Olivenhain Road.

People have been placed in the agriculture industry, as well as in construction and landscaping, Carranza said.

Carranza said about 200 companies use the hiring hall, but many employers still choose to hire migrants on the streets.

“Some are paying below minimum wage and there are a lot of abuses out there--and this segment of the population falls victim to that abuse,” Carranza said.