Tempe Day Labor Issue Part of National Problem

TEMPE (By Jim Walsh, Arizona Republic) May 20, 2004 - A small group of Hispanic day laborers mill about daily in the baking sun at Priest Drive and Baseline Road, hoping to land construction or landscaping work.

But the sight of 10 to 15 men intimidates customers of nearby Mobil On the Run and Spring Hill Suites, saying they're a nuisance and a potential safety risk, managers of the businesses say.

The day-labor problem in Tempe, near Arizona Mills Mall and the Guadalupe boundary, is a microcosm of the same scenario repeated in other Valley cities. It puts Tempe police in an unenviable bind as they cope with the local impact of a national immigration problem.

"Our calls for service are astronomical. We're out there almost every day, sometimes a couple of times a day," Officer Bill Vanek said. "There's a lot of frustration for everyone."

Vanek knows the men are not criminals and respects that they want to earn an honest day's work, but eventually he must enforce the trespassing law.

For about eight months, he has been warning the men and moving them to a dirt lot away from the businesses. For the past two weeks, he has passed out fliers in Spanish warning them they are breaking the law.

Next week, Vanek said he would start taking names and keeping records. If the men come back again the following week, they will be arrested.

"It's more of a perception issue than a security issue," said Mark Van Amerongen, executive vice president of Western International of Dallas, which owns and operates Spring Hill Suites and nearby Towne Place Suites.

"We've had some folks staying with us who did not feel comfortable with people congregating," he said.

Because the hotel doesn't have a restaurant, some guests have complained about having to walk past the men to eat at nearby restaurants or to visit Arizona Mills, said Eric Kruizenga, Spring Hill's general manager.

"You and I know these guys aren't there to cause problems, but people from out of town don't see it that way," Kruizenga said. The problem has cost the hotel corporate clients, he said.

Virginia Pesqueira, a Tempe Human Relations Commission member, said the solution is to build a day-labor center.

Salvador Reza, who operates Phoenix's Macehualli day labor center at 25th Street and Bell Road, said Tempe will not solve the problem by arresting workers and providing no other option for finding work.

Rosa Inchausti, Tempe's diversity coordinator, said the city continues to study the day-labor issue but has no formal plan for a day-labor center.