Day laborers staying away from LA area job centers amid immigration raids

Immigration raids across the L.A. region have had a chilling effect at centers that connect day laborers with jobs, forcing undocumented workers to weigh the risk of earning badly needed income with the potential of being detained by federal agents.

The Home Depot parking lot in L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood was among the first places to be raided on Friday. The immigrant rights group CARECEN runs a fenced off labor center in the same lot.

“We’ve seen a 90% drop” in people seeking work there, said Martin Pineda, spokesperson for CARECEN, “definitely after Friday when day laborers were picked up by immigration agents at the Home Depot in L.A.”

The center is one of roughly a dozen in the Los Angeles area that connect workers, regardless of immigration status, with employers looking for day laborers.

The Pasadena Job Center has connected people seeking work, regardless of immigration status, since 2000.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

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LAist

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The drop in day laborer turnout at centers is leading some who run the center to worry that the immigration raids will test the finances of families already struggling with climbing rents and food costs.

Day laborers are loyal to job centers

The Pasadena Job Center is one of the oldest centers. It was started in 2000 and funded with grants from the city of Pasadena and philanthropists. On a typical day, 35 to 40 people show up when the center opens at 6 a.m., hoping to be connected with employers looking for people to do construction, cleaning and gardening work.

Juan Dominguez works connecting employers with day laborers at the Pasadena Job Center.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

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LAist

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“ We have like 10% of the people who usually sign in [looking for work],” said Juan Dominguez, who works at the Pasadena Job Center pairing jobs with workers. “They're scared.”

Dominguez said he wonders how long the workers can stay home from work.

“If they can't go out to work looking for the money, the income, so what's going to happen then? They won't be able to pay the rent, they won't be able to pay their bills,” he said.

In the meantime, the center is helping those workers out through its food pantry.

Sick to her stomach thinking about being detained

On Tuesday afternoon, about a half dozen people milled about the center’s storefront space while watching a television tuned to a midday news show.

“I didn’t want to come on Saturday because I take the bus here,” said Rosa, who didn’t want her last name used because she’s undocumented.

The Pasadena Job Center has connected her with work cleaning houses and laying mulch at Altadena properties cleared of fire debris.

She said the fear of being detained made her sick to her stomach. But she returned to the center on Tuesday because she has to pay bills and help her adult granddaughter with expenses.

“That’s what worries me, we don’t know if ICE will show up here, there, or at home,” said Gabino, who also asked that only his first name be used because he’s undocumented.

“I take the bus, and that’s a risk,” he said.

He’s gotten work at the center doing house moving, painting and gardening.

“We do have a group on WhatsApp, and there has been a lot of activity reporting ICE,” Dominguez said. For the time being, the center isn’t encouraging people to come back to the center to look for work.