Day Laborers Swarm Local Parking Lots, Look For Work [View All]

[The Straight Story]

"Day Laborers Swarm Local Parking Lots, Look For Work"

The controversy surrounding immigrants living and working in the United States without documentation continues Monday night. With limited options for legal employment, many immigrant workers have taken to waiting outside in local parking lots looking for work.

It is a familiar sight to residents in South Nashville; day laborers waiting in the Mapco parking lot next to the Jack-in-the-Box on Murfreesboro Road, hoping to find work. The manager of the Mapco station said every morning dozens of day laborers hang around outside, hoping for work. Sometimes as many as 150 people are waiting, said Mapco Manager Carlos Restrepo. He said the large number of people is hurting business. "Too many people here is a problem too with the neighborhood, they complain, they don't want to come here to buy nothing,” he said.

Recently, Jack-in-the-Box contracted Metro Police Department's Secondary Employment Unit to patrol their parking lot in the busy morning hours. The corporate office issued the following statement, “Following numerous complaints from guests about difficulties accessing the location and the lack of available parking space, we employed a security guard to help minimize the loitering and keep our restaurant freely accessible to customers. Though we continueto evaluate the situation, this approach has been effective.” Some residents say this temporary fix won't solve the problem long-term.

South Nashville resident William Harris said, "It's a waste out of their pocket because why are you going to give this dude $200 to $300 a week just to sit here and not really do nothing all day and what, just to scatter all these Hispanics out here?" He said the parking lots are full of other undesirable activities as soon as the police patrol leaves.

http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/day-laborers-swarm-local-parking-lots-look-for-work