Communities throughout the United States have experienced an increase in the presence of day laborers, usually at Home Depot, Yard Bird, and other home improvement centers.  This phenomenon has affected the San Carlos Home Depot on Old County Road.

Day laborers wait for either contractors or private citizens to pick them up in order to perform construction related job functions for a period of time.  Cities such as Glendale, California have attempted to institute city ordinances preventing people from soliciting employment in this manner. The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has ruled Glendale’s law unconstitutional on a variety of levels.  Glendale has appealed this ruling and the case is still in litigation.  The Town of Mamaroneck, New York was recently successfully sued by an organization representing Day Laborers for their efforts to try and move the day laborers along to other locations.  In that case, the local police moved the day laborers onto the street and stepped up patrols.  The outcome of the lawsuit is expected to cost the town $500,000 in attorney’s fees.

The San Carlos Police Department would like the public to know that the day laborers around the San Carlos Home Depot have not been linked to any significant crimes and legitimate calls for service related to their conduct are very rare. When we do request their cooperation for something such as staying out of the traffic lanes, they are always very cooperative. 

The following actions have been taken by the Police Department in order to assure community safety and protect the rights of Day Laborers:

• While we have not tried to move them off the lot, we have provided flyers in both English and Spanish outlining the location of local Worker’s Resource Centers and the advantages such facilities present to them
• We have made sure the area is part of our routine patrol so as to ensure legal conduct by all parties
• We have monitored our call volume at the Home Depot lot and can definitely say that it is very low with respect to the Day Laborers
• We continue to be committed to enforcing any violations of the law occurring in the Home Depot parking lot

In addition to the above, Home Depot has hired a private security guard to patrol their parking lot. The security guard will be encouraging all day laborers to move to the sides of the parking lot and away from the front entrance of the store and shopping cart drop-off points. Early indicators show that the day laborers seem receptive to instructions. This has created a more visible pathway to the entrance of the store and less pedestrian congestion.  

The San Carlos Police Department will continue to monitor this situation and the actions by the courts that could effect our options to deal with it.  At the current time, the law is not on the side of those who wish to see solicitation of day work outlawed or those who simply wish our day laborers could be forced to go somewhere else. 

Should you wish to discuss this issue further, feel free to contact Commander Jon Read at (650) 802-4442.