Group wants Freehold
muster zone left alone
Organization claims
order closing hiring
area is unlawful
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

Members of a group known as the Monmouth County Residents for Immigrants’ Rights were planning to attend the Dec. 1 Borough Council meeting to protest the closing of Freehold Borough’s so-called muster zone.

The muster zone is an area on Throckmorton Street west of downtown where day laborers gather to wait for employers to pick them up for a day’s work. Many of the men waiting for work are in the United States illegally. Borough officials have said the muster zone will be closed Jan. 1.

The Monmouth County Residents for Immigrants’ Rights will protest what they claim is an unconstitutional order given by Mayor Michael Wilson and the council, according to Virginia McGlone, one of the group’s members.

A flier being circulated around town by municipal officials states that the muster zone "may not be used for day labor pick-up or discharge." The fliers states that "any person trespassing on this property will be arrested and can be punished by up to 30 days in jail and a fine up to $500."

The flier states the laborers must make other arrangements for work transportation. It says that "motor vehicle and ordinance violations such as horn-blowing, loitering and obstructing traffic will be strictly enforced in Freehold Borough."

McGlone contends the information may not "follow legal procedures" because of the reference to loitering and horn-blowing in the new order. She claims the order singles out immigrants and will prevent them from making a living to support their families.

She said if an American citizen is trespassing he may receive a fine, but she claimed the order put forth by the borough will be a much more serious offense to an illegal immigrant because the order states that all violators will be reported to the state and to the federal Department of Homeland Security.

McGlone asked whether parents who are gathering in front of a school, wait­ing to pick up their children will also be cited for loitering.

"And what will happen if they blow the horn to get the child’s attention?" she added.

When asked if she thought that pre­venting people from trespassing on an­other’s property was wrong, McGlone said that three years ago the area known as the muster zone was designated by federal agencies to be used for day labor­ers specifically to keep the employment activity away from the borough’s neigh­borhoods.

"Now they want to take it back." she said. "Why now? If Conrail [which owns part of the property] didn’t care about it three years ago, why should they care about it now?"

McGlone cited the progress she said communities like Morristown have made over the last few years with their popu­lation of day laborers.

"Working together, like town officials in Morristown, is the only way to resolve this situation in Freehold," she said.

McGlone said the members of the Monmouth County Residents for Immigrants’ Rights are all "very con­cerned citizens and long-time community activists."

"People must not be so unforgiving," she said. "We need to have many more people to be involved who care for their fellow human beings in order to find a solution."

The group, which McGlone said was created in light of the situation in Freehold, contends that immigrant workers have played an enormous role in the progress of the borough’s renaissance through their hard work in home and business construction, yard work and restaurant work.

"After using them, [the mayor] now wants to expel them from the town in a measure solely aimed at reducing the Latino population of Freehold Borough," she stated.

Members of the group are now circu­lating their own flier to gather support to help repeal what they say is the "illegal anti-immigrant order" in Freehold.

According to the flier, the "town is is­suing an order imposing criminal penal­ties against Latino laborers who gather for day work." The flier also states that "there is no other site set aside to replace the muster zone."

The group believes the order to close the muster zone is unconstitutional be­cause it targets a specific population in the town, McGlone said.

The Monmouth County Residents for Immigrants’ Rights also contends that the borough needs stricter rent control and living wages laws, as well as bene­fits.

"If [the governing body] of the bor­ough can go through with this dangerous and unconstitutional law directed against one group of workers, our neigh­bors and friends, they can find ways to limit all of us who are not in their elite club," she said.

McGlone said workers in Monmouth County need to unite and work together to find a solution and protect the rights of one another.

Comparing this situation to the era of segregation, McGlone said when workers unite they do not give employers or profi­teers the opportunity to exploit them.

"When blacks and whites had sepa­rate work factories the employers had the chance of abusing one group," McGlone said. "Once desegregation took place, there was no opportunity to take advantage of one group by choosing to pay one group less and treat another group better."

McGlone claimed many people are re­ceiving misinformation about the immi­grant situation. She said many people do not believe immigrants pay taxes in this country, but she said they pay rent and therefore they are paying property taxes. She added that the accumulation of rent that immigrants pay annually will likely pay 100 percent of the owner’s property taxes.

"Add to that amount what they spend as consumers and yes, they are certainly paying taxes here," she said.

McGlone said the Monmouth County Residents for Immigrants’ Rights is looking for more people to support this cause.

"We are concerned citizens who are very concerned about the rights of work­ers," she said. "They should not be abused. If you abuse these workers, you give way to the abuse of any worker. Then wages go down and everybody suf­fers. We need to come to an agreement simply by supporting each other. Give your hand to your brother or sister worker. We need to reach out to the community."

"The first step toward easing this sit­uation should not be to close the muster zone. This is only going to prevent the workers from supporting their families. There should be a more reasonable ap­proach like reaching out to the commu­nity for help and support and include the day laborers themselves," she said.