Hiring center still strong

A spate of protests over illegal immigration at the Day Labor Center

has not made a dramatic impact on the center’s operations.

Although the facility has been at the center of a firestorm over

the issue of illegals crossing the Mexican border, the number of

job-seekers and employers at the Laguna Canyon Road center has not

been significantly reduced, organizers say.

The center was dealt a one-two punch recently with nearly

back-to-back protests July 16 and 30, one of which took place in the

Civic Arts District near downtown. Still, effects on the center’s

operations have been short-lived.

“The numbers aren’t significantly down,” said David Peck, of the

Cross Cultural Council, which runs the center. “We have about the

same number of guys coming in looking for workers and the same number

of people hired.

“Maybe when the demonstrators are there, fewer people drive in,

but overall, it [demonstrations] hasn’t affected us.”

Coordinator of the job center, Irma Ronses, who is on-site Monday

through Saturday from 6 a.m. to noon, agreed.

“I haven’t noticed a drop in business since the protests,” Ronses

said. “And we have the same amount of people who show up for work.”

On a recent Wednesday, Ronses was facilitating job assignments,

surrounded by vases filled with flowers, celebrating her six-year

anniversary working at the center.

“I was here for the protest; the last protest didn’t affect us,”

Ronses said. “They started doing it around 11 a.m., so we had the

whole morning before for work.

“Still the contractors and homeowners see a lot of people or

police and think something is happening. They don’t want to come to

that.”

The day of the July 30 protest -- which drew militant protestors

waving Nazi flags -- 27 workers got jobs.

“I’m a citizen here; I saw a sign that said ‘illegals go back to

Mexico,” Ronses said. “I feel bad because I’m Latino and to be

treated like we’re criminals. We’re here because we want to work. You

feel really bad when you hear things like that.”

Two Saturday’s later, 49 workers received work with a week total

of 157 jobs.

“It was a good week, we had a lot of work,” Ronses said. “It’s so

different every single day. We feel really good that we can make it

and do it.”

On the day of the July 30 rally, Ronses said they received a lot

of support.

“A lot of students from L.A. and San Bernardino came all the way

here to support us,” Ronses said.

Dario Hernandez, 48, has been working in Laguna since 1986 and has

been at the job center since its inception in 1993. He used to live

in Laguna Beach but can no longer afford it and now commutes from

Santa Ana.

Ronses translated for Hernandez.

“All my family lives in Mexico; I work and send money to support

them over there,” Hernandez said.

The protests have made him sad and fearful for his security.

“I’m worried that the contractors won’t come anymore like they did

before,” Hernandez said.

His family counts on him. He goes home once a year to see his wife

and two children.

“My family used to live here, but we couldn’t afford it,”

Hernandez said. “So I had to send them back. I hope to work and make

enough money and save money, so my family can all live together.”

Ronses says that 30% of the workers live in Laguna Beach, while

the other 70% live nearby, including Laguna Hills, Aliso Viejo and

Costa Mesa.

Enrique Aquilara, 18, said he has been finding work through the

job center for two years. Ronses translated for Aguilara, who also

spoke some English.

“The protesters don’t affect me,” Aguilara said. “And I’ve been

treated good by the people that hire me.”

He said if he didn’t have the job center, he would have to find

work in a restaurant or factory.

Aguilara said there is a lot of camaraderie at the center.

Artem Petunin, 20, an exchange student from Russia for the summer,

uses the center to earn extra cash. He said he was told about the job

center by a friend in Laguna Niguel, where he is staying.

“The first day I was afraid, but within a few days, I made

friends, and I don’t even know Spanish,” Petunin said.

The protests are a nonissue to Petunin.

“I just heard about the protest just now -- the workers don’t talk

about it,” he said.

Across the street from the job center, Ganahl Lumber Co. has taken

a hit because of the protests, which affected business on the days of

the demonstrations.

“Our customers don’t like it at all,” sales manager Dave Miller

said. “There’s an increase in traffic, and the police try and help,

but we shut down when it happens.”

Miller said Ganahl has no affiliation either way on the issue of

illegals.

“A lot of people have been calling up and leaving nasty messages

that we support illegal hiring,” Miller said. “We get phone calls

mostly -- they are usually too afraid to confront us face to face.”

He said the lumberyard was built before the job center existed and

gets targeted due to its close proximity.

“We’re right across the street; some people are so hard-lined that

they actually protest us,” Miller said. “We don’t know where they get

their information; they’re completely ignorant of the situation.

That’s a horrible thing for us.”

He said Ganahl has no problems with the day laborers.

Kate Marshall, who lives near the job center in the Canyon Acres

neighborhood, said she is not pleased with the protests.

Since the protests, Marshall has noticed increased traffic, but

she’s more incensed by the protesters’ stance.

“People [the protesters] are coming up with uninformed opinions,”

Marshall said. “We have more problems with transients and delinquent

teenagers.”

She said she has hired workers multiple times for anything from

moving to construction.

“I’ve hired them not because they’re cheap, but they are reliable

and work hard,” Marshall said. “The ones I’ve talked to and heard

their stories are just amazing people.”

* SUZIE HARRISON is a reporter for the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. She may be reached at (949) 494-4321 or

[email protected].