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NY Town to Pay Legal Fees for Day Labors

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 June 2007, 00:00 CDT

By JIM FITZGERALD

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - A suburban village found guilty of discriminating against Hispanic day laborers has tentatively agreed to prohibit police from routinely asking the workers about their immigration status, the plaintiff's lawyers said Monday.

In addition, the village of Mamaroneck must pay more than $500,000 of the workers' legal fees, the attorneys said.

The workers "have sought from the village nothing more than to be left alone and be allowed to seek work," said their lawyer, Alan Levine. "It is sad that it took a lengthy and costly lawsuit to establish such a fundamental right in Mamaroneck."

The agreement, disclosed Monday afternoon by plaintiffs' attorneys, was ratified 3-1 Monday night by the village Board of Trustees. It must still be approved by a federal judge.

Because it would be a federal court-approved settlement, the agreement could influence the treatment of day laborers elsewhere around the country, where they have become an increasingly visible symbol of the immigration issue.

Cesar Perales, president of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represented the six Hispanic plaintiffs, said national immigration legislation could prevent future conflicts like the one in Mamaroneck.

"The court upheld the fact that immigrants have protection from harassment and discrimination," he said. "A strong immigration bill will re-emphasize that fact with these local officials who think they can step on anyone's rights."

Mamaroneck said its resources were being strained by the day laborers, and argued that it was only enforcing existing laws when it beefed up the police presence and set up traffic checkpoints that inconvenienced the contractors.

Federal Judge Colleen McMahon ruled in November that the village, which is 23 miles north of New York City, discriminated against Hispanic day laborers when it closed a hiring site, forcing the workers onto the streets, and then stepped up police patrols on the streets.

"The fact that the day laborers were Latinos, and not whites, was, at least in part, a motivating factor in defendants' actions," the judge wrote.

While finding the village liable, McMahon did not immediately impose a penalty, instead ordering the two sides to come up with recommendations in 10 days.

That was seven months ago, and the two sides have been meeting on-and-off since then, repeatedly winning extensions from the judge. The current deadline is June 20.

A call to Mayor Philip Trifiletti, a defendant in the lawsuit, was not returned. Another defendant, police Commissioner Edward Flynn, was on vacation, his office said.

The defense fund said the agreement includes "specific prohibitions on police misconduct and discriminatory behavior toward day laborers, including a prohibition against routine police inquiry into the immigration status of day laborers."

It said a monitor, to be appointed by the judge, would ensure that the village complies. And it said the plaintiffs' lawyers would receive $550,000 from the village.

Not part of the agreement, but possibly a key element in reaching it, was the announcement last week by the Hispanic Resource Center that a new hiring site for day laborers is to open Tuesday in Mamaroneck on private property.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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