And the policies and politicians who protect them

Last month we posted about the Houston Police Department and some area politicians’ desire to hinder the law-abiding Minutemen, and to find a way to protect the status quo of Houston’s pro-illegal immigrant policies.

Today’s Houston Chronicle reports that illegal-immigrant activist and proponents might have a solution. (NOTE: the number of times the word “illegal” is used in the Chronicle story on illegal immigrants and the illegal hiring of such = 0)

Their solution? To hide the illegal workers who currently stand on street corners looking for work, so that the Minutemen won’t be able to report on their activities. Oh, and for the illegal workers who won’t comply with the plan? Juan Alvarez, an activist working to organize the day laborers is asking area homeowners to be “compassionate”.

“I know it is a problem for most of you, but on the other side they are human beings, too,” Alvarez said.

He maintained that a crackdown at the sites could force the laborers out of work and into crime.

HPD officers who were at the meeting suggested that current labor centers move, preferably ton an industrial area where neighbors and businesses would not be disrupted (thus allowing the illegal behavior to continue, but without all the hassles of citizen complaints).

Not only does the city’s plan attempt to hide and condone the illegal worker problem, but it wants to use tax money to do it, too:

At a separate meeting, Joe Rubio, a representative of Catholic Charities who also heads the Mayor’s Office on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, introduced a proposal to place a day labor center in each quadrant of the city. The centers would be located away from residential neighborhoods, and would offer language classes and other education.

Rubio estimates that each center would cost a “minimum” of $150,000 a year. Councilman Gordon Quan said he doubted the council would provide $600,000 to fund the four sites, but Rubio and others said private funding could help offset the costs.

In the East End, a day labor center has reopened using $90,000 from the city, $50,000 from Bank of America and volunteer work from representatives of Exxon Mobil Corp.

Let me get this straight: the city of Houston is going to use the HPD to harass and thwart the legal-monitoring activities planned by the Minutemen citizens group? And then they are going to use taxpayers’ dollars to provide illegal workhouses and labor centers (hidden from the views of concerned citizens)? And on top of that, they want to use tax dollars to provide them free education, too?

Houston, we have a problem.

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Monday, August 1st, 2005 | Trackback |