In a private Tuesday night meeting, Herndon's town attorney presented city council members with options for changing a law aimed at keeping day laborers off the street before the city is sued by immigration advocates. The options, presented in a memo reviewed by The Washington Examiner, ranged from repealing the law altogether to replacing it with one that more closely mirrors legislation adopted by Vienna and Albemarle County that is less controversial.
According to people familiar with the discussions, council members gravitated toward redrafting the law to "preserve its form and structure" while restricting its reach to street solicitation.
The present law, passed in June, prohibits anyone or any group from soliciting employment or contributions on busy streets as well as sidewalks and footpaths. Proponents of the law are quick to point out that the aim is not discriminatory -- it affects people from day laborers to cheerleading squads soliciting customers for a nearby car wash.
Some outside immigration advocates disagree. Anita Sinha, a lawyer with D.C.-based Advancement Project, worked with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network to write a letter in October to Herndon's council, identifying areas where the law may violate constitutional freedom of speech.
Though the letter stated that litigation was not the "preferred course of action," it did point out that similar ordinances around the country had been struck down by federal courts on free speech grounds.
Sinha also pointed to drafts of Herndon's 2005 legislation with wording to "eliminate the visual blight of Latino workers." That language was taken out of the 2005 law, and that law was later struck down by a state court. But Sinha cites it as evidence of discriminatory intent.
Herndon Mayor Steve DeBenedittis and council members on both sides of the issue expressed deep frustration with advocacy groups based outside Herndon -- both those aimed at cracking down on day laborers, and those working to grant them more rights.
"Any time you have outside influence it creates a lot of tension in a community because people don't know which decisions are made because they're the right decision, and which are made because of outside influence," said Council Member Sheila Olem.
Olem's colleague Bill Tirrell supports the law as it is written and will not vote for a redraft or any changes until it has been given a two-year trial. "I believe it will pass any form of review in the court system," Tirrell said.
