Sites for Day Laborers

Re “Should Police Patrol Sites of Day Laborers?” July 23.

In response to Pablo Alvarado, coordinator of the Day Laborer Project, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, on the question of day laborer sites being patrolled by the LAPD, again quality-of-life issues are being twisted into the anti-immigrant argument. The problems of public self-relief, gambling, drinking and laborers entering neighboring private yards are not perceived problems, but very real ones. These are indeed quality-of-life issues for those residents who have invested a lot of themselves in their homes and their neighborhood.

While the LAPD has every right to enforce existing laws, including the loitering law, they do so in response to surrounding community concerns. One possible answer to this problem is the mandatory setting aside of an area for day laborers inside the parking areas of some of the home-improvement and hardware superstores being built in our Valley. This area should be maintained by the property owner, since this type of commercial property typically attracts day laborers. This special area should be part of every plan submitted for permit approval to the city by such an enterprise. The city currently requires different enhancements for many kinds of commercial projects. This could be one of those enhancements.

CARLOS FERREYRA

Van Nuys

Ferreyra is a member of the Van Nuys Community-Police Advisory Board