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Herndon considers security guards, new site for day laborers
In their latest set of proposals to crack down on day laborers, Town of Herndon officials are considering hiring security guards to keep the laborers from congregating on private commercial properties.
Herndon already strictly enforces zoning regulations that prohibit the day worker assembly sites on land not zoned accordingly.
On Sept. 3, the town obtained a $1,200 judgment in General District Court against gas station owners who were allegedly allowing day laborers to be hired on their property.
Included in a 12-page memo released by Town Attorney Richard Kaufman last week is a proposal that the town hire security guards "to patrol and prevent private property solicitation or hiring of day laborers."
According to Town Manager Art Anselene, to have an effective security guard program the Town would need to have between 2-4 security guards to "manage the various commercial sites." According to the memo, the estimated taxpayer cost to fund the security force could be up to $156,000 per year.
Another proposal outlined in the Sept. 9 memo is the establishment of an "alternate site for legal workers."
One year ago, the Herndon Town Council shut down a day labor hiring site because the organization that managed it, Reston Interfaith, would not verify legal presence of the workers hired there.
The proposed new site would determine whether or not workers are "lawfully present and authorized to work" by virtue of a licensing program or requiring the use of I-9 forms, which employers use to verify employees' identity and establish that workers are eligible to accept employment in the United States. Employers are required to have their workers fill out the form upon being hired.
According to Kaufman, this federal requirement applies to day laborers and their employers. He admits however, that "some lawyers disagree with my conclusion and assert that day workers are not covered by the I-9 program."
Contractors and homeowners now engage in hiring day laborers from non-approved commercial property sites within the town "often with subtle and well-understood signals," Kaufman said.
"Some contractors engage, through eye contact or signals, a group of day workers, say, at one location. Then the day workers cross Elden Street to be picked up, say, at another retail location."
Herndon Councilman Dennis Husch, who last month proposed several of his own controversial ideas for handling the day labor situation in Herndon, said that all measures will be given equal consideration.
"I do not know which of the possible initiatives are viable options to the majority of the Town Council," he told The Times.
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