Patrols to Control Day Laborers Are Being Stepped Up in Santa Clarita

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have stepped up patrols on San Fernando Road in Santa Clarita in response to complaints that day laborers are harassing passers-by and their presence is creating traffic problems and disrupting businesses.

At city officials’ request, the deputies late last week began foot patrols during the early morning on heavily traveled San Fernando Road around Market Street in Newhall. As many as 400 day laborers congregate in the area on weekday mornings.

“They’re perceived as a nuisance by many business people and residents,” said Santa Clarita Mayor Jo Anne Darcy. “The problem had gotten worse.”

Capt. Bob Spierer, who heads the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department station in Santa Clarita, said the issue is safety. “We had a number of complaints from merchants and residents that cars looking for day laborers were stopping and blocking traffic. Some residents said they were being harassed a bit.”

He said deputies are citing the day workers only if they break the law.

“Our intent is not to make arrests but to avoid problems,” Spierer said. A few tickets may have been issued for jaywalking, he said.

“We’re not out there to chase them away or hassle them,” Spierer added. “They have a right to be there. We’re out there because there’s a problem that’s been called to our attention.”

Alfredo Vasquez, a Los Angeles County community worker in Newhall, said the number of day laborers on San Fernando Road has increased in recent months.

“There are more and more new faces,” he said. “And there’s fierce competition among them for jobs.”

Vasquez said that workers from Mexico and Central American countries come to the Santa Clarita Valley believing jobs are plentiful because housing construction is booming.

“In fact, this is a myth,” he said. “There isn’t that much work. I walk the streets in the morning trying to tell them that.”

George Allard, whose family owns a dry-cleaning store on San Fernando Road, said the day laborers were “a little intimidating” to his customers. The sheriff’s department effort has eased the problem somewhat, he said.

“I believe their presence alone has made a difference,” Allard said of the deputies. “For a short-term cure, they’re doing a great job.”

Meanwhile, the city of Santa Clarita is working on permanent solutions to the problem, city officials said.

An informal committee was formed late last year to come up with proposals to present to the City Council.

One proposal was to begin a pilot program called “Adopt a Corner,” in which volunteers would dispense information to the day laborers and the people who hire them, educating them about community services and rights, said Raquel Garcia, the city staff person assigned to the committee.

Garcia said the committee plans to consider designating a specific site for the workers to gather, an approach followed in Glendale and Los Angeles.

Last August, the City Council rejected an ordinance that would have made it a misdemeanor for day laborers to solicit work on city streets or sidewalks.

The main issue is safety, Darcy said, not immigration control. The sheriff’s department is not reporting violators to immigration officials, Spierer said.

“These people are practicing one of America’s traditions of hustling for a job,” said Councilman Dennis Koontz.