Town shutters its day laborer site

The town of Herndon, Va., shut down its day laborer center this fall following a lawsuit and a judge’s ruling.

In 2005 the town council enacted an anti-solicitation ordinance. To help support that ordinance, the town also built a day laborer center. The center created a flurry of controversy because it was funded by tax dollars. Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, filed suit against Herndon in September 2005 for publicly funding the site. But the center opened as planned December 2005.

“Both federal and state law prohibits the Town of Herndon from committing public funds and resources in order to facilitate the illegal employment of undocumented aliens,” Judicial Watch said in a released statement.

In August 2007, Circuit Court Judge Leslie Alden found the anti-solicitation ordinance to be unconstitutional. The town decided to close the center after Alden’s ruling.

“The viewpoint of the majority of this council is that a regulated site was necessary only as a means of enforcing the town’s anti-solicitation ordinance,” said Herndon Mayor Stephen DeBenedittis. “As there is no longer an enforceable ordinance, there is no longer a reason for the Town of Herndon to support a regulated day worker site.”

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For more: Town of Herndon, (703) 435-6800; http://herndon-va.gov. Judicial Watch, (888) 593-8442; www.judicialwatch.org.