The Front Line of the Labor Market
A popular anti-immigrant tactic in Arizona is to try to ban day laborers from public places. Though it's not how I would choose to sell my labor, many people choose to advertise and sell their labor from street corners and in public spaces. And many of these folks, contrary to common perceptions, are legal residents of this country.
A federal judge on Monday issued a temporary order blocking the town
of Cave Creek from enforcing a law aimed at stopping day laborers from
gathering on streets to look for work.In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver found that the
ordinance is an unconstitutional restriction of free speech, and that
the possibility of irreparable harm exists."Plaintiffs, as day laborers, face not only the loss of First
Amendment freedoms, but also the loss of employment opportunities
necessary to support themselves and their families," Silver wrote in
the ruling.
