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Illegal immigration protest targets day-labor site

By DWAYNE ROBINSON
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
http://www.palmbeachpost.com
Sunday, March 02, 2008

JUPITER — John and Wendy Donahue say they lost their jobs, they lost their home and now they've lost their patience with what they see as the main culprit: illegal immigration.

"It's impossible to find a job," said Wendy, mother of four, ages 14 to 21. "These illegals are undercutting wages."

Formerly local home painters, the Donahues were two of about 100 protesters Saturday outside of the El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center in Jupiter. The day-labor center connects undocumented immigrants with local employers.

"It's the Taj Mahal in there," said Wendy, 36. "They get served coffee, doughnuts - a waiting lounge."

El Sol clients and representatives had a counterdemonstration, a prayer vigil that was, at times, drowned out by the honking car horns or jeers from sign- and flag-waving opponents at Indiantown Road and Military Trail.

The federal illegal immigration debate is playing itself out on Palm Beach County streets. And this work center has become the focus of a town council campaign and now a congressional primary election.

"To us, it's not an immigration problem," El Sol president Mike Richmond said. "It's a local problem for the Town of Jupiter."

That problem was the hordes of undocumented workers who formerly clogged busy intersections and residential neighborhoods, grappling for a spot in the back of a pickup truck and a hard days work.

Now, State Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, wants to shut down El Sol.

"This should be a federal issue," Harrell said of illegal immigration. "And the federal government needs to step up to the plate. ... But given they're not, the state government needs to do what it can."

Harrell's Florida Safe Borders Act (HB 821) would bar any county or municipality from creating, operating, funding or even assisting with any day-labor center aiding undocumented immigrants.

Jupiter helped establish El Sol, partly by buying it a building for $2 million, which its operator, Catholic Charities of Palm Beach Inc., now leases for $1 a year.

"We should not use those scarce resources, these taxpayer dollars, to help illegals get jobs," Harrell said.

Harrell joined the weekly protests at El Sol Saturday to bolster support for her bill and her candidacy to succeed U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens.

It's not clear what penalty local governments would face for aiding such day-laborer centers, based on the bill's language. But protesters said the centers encourage further illegal immigration.

El Sol representatives disputed the idea that it is a magnet for undocumented workers.

"Immigrants have been coming here for 20 years," Richmond said. "Workers came before there was a center like this.

"We think this is one of the best investments a town can make."

Protesters on both sides acknowledged that El Sol has been effective to some degree in reducing congregations of workers at places like Center Street.

Inside El Sol, undocumented workers play chess, eat meals and await job assignments through a lottery system. While there, they also have job training courses, computer classes and civic training.

Ironically, as some protesters outside Saturday called for undocumented immigrants to learn English, that's exactly what the undocumented workers were doing inside El Sol.

A 27-year-old from Mexico was one of them, doing so after living in America illegally for seven years. He no longer seeks work on Jupiter's streets.

"Before this center, when we were in the streets, it was very difficult," he said. "The one who was stronger would get the job. ... This has order, and we have opportunities for everybody."

Correction: Because of a reporting error, The Palm Beach Post on Sunday incorrectly reported that Catholic Charities of Palm Beach Inc. operates El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center and leases the center's building from Jupiter. Catholic Charities' affiliation with the center ended Dec. 31

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