Costa Mesa Plans to Let State Run Dayworker Hall : Immigration: Those using the job center would no longer have to prove to the city that they are in the country legally.

The city is preparing to cut its ties with the dayworker hiring hall that first established Costa Mesa’s reputation as a place where illegal immigrants were not welcome.

City officials have approved a proposal that would turn over the operation of the Costa Mesa Job Center to the state, a change that would mean dayworkers using the center would no longer have to prove to the city that they are in the country legally. Instead, the hiring hall would follow state guidelines that require employers to do the checking.

The hiring hall policy and other measures that sought to limit job opportunities and services for illegal immigrants brought Costa Mesa national notoriety. Now that the job center is about to change hands and the other measures are no longer in place, Costa Mesa’s reputation among Latino residents may improve, said Latino activist Roy Alvarado.

“That would show a lot of growth on their part,” said Alvarado, who founded a Latino residents group in response to ordinances introduced by former Councilman Orville Amburgey that were perceived as hostile to immigrants.

City officials, however, were reluctant to characterize the hiring hall transfer as a turning point in Costa Mesa’s policies toward illegal immigrants. Instead, they emphasized that relinquishing its control to the state Employment Development Department will save the city $60,000 a year.

“I’d like to see the city get out of the employment office business,” said Mayor Mary Hornbuckle, who joined Vice Mayor Sandra L. Genis and Councilman Jay Humphrey in asking the city manager to work out an agreement that would allow the state to take over.

Amburgey said the job center transfer makes a “mockery of the citizens of Costa Mesa” because most city residents do not want any of their taxes to go toward supporting illegal immigrants.

“The city is not going to save money,” said Amburgey, who was defeated in the November election. “The taxpayers are not going to save money. The point is, the taxpayers’ dollars are going to pay for services for people who are not legally in the United States.”

The city established the job center in October, 1988, after residents complained that groups of mostly Latino men were crowding city streets and disrupting businesses. The program was copied in cities throughout the country and lauded as a model program by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

But then the city went a step further, asking social service agencies to check the immigration status of the people they helped. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp intervened, saying the city could not force that requirement on those agencies that receive federal grants. The city reluctantly agreed, fearing the loss of federal funds in the future should Kemp’s directive be disregarded.

The council also approved a measure making it illegal to be in certain areas of the city with the intent to solicit work. That ordinance was challenged on the grounds that it violated freedoms of speech and assembly guaranteed under the First Amendment, and it was struck down in Orange County Superior Court.

Now, however, with Amburgey off the council, the city is looking into offering services--including help in finding permanent full-time work--that would be available to all people regardless of their immigration status.

The city’s stands on immigrant issues led to the formation Latinos for Costa Mesa last spring. The group, led by Alvarado, holds weekly meetings for Latinos and anyone else who is interested to discuss city policies, cultural differences and other matters. Many people, he said, because of the hiring hall and other attempts by the government to distinguish between legal and illegal residents are afraid to become active members in society, he said.

“That’s why our (people) are intimidated, and that’s one of the reasons they do not participate--because their status is questioned,” Alvarado said. “Most of what I’ve heard is that they’re afraid. They’re intimidated.”

The Costa Mesa job center finds work for an average of 27 people a day, from the average of 75 there daily seeking employment, according to the city. Under the proposed agreement with the state, the city would save $60,000 a year because the state would pay for staffing costs, custodial services, utilities and a telephone-answering program. Costa Mesa would continue to contribute about $19,700 toward the center each year to cover rent and building maintenance, according to a city staff memo to the city manager.