Day labor lawsuit reaches end

A lawsuit seeking to force the city of Laguna Beach to stop funding the Day Labor Hiring Site has reached a dead end.

The state Supreme Court declined on Feb. 18 to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling against the suit, filed by the conservative group Judicial Watch on behalf of Laguna Beach residents Eileen Garcia and her husband, George Riviere.

The court hears only a fraction of the cases brought to it for review, said Philip Carrizosa, acting spokesman for the California Supreme Court. In addition, because the appeals court ruling upholding municipal support for the hiring site was not published, and therefore not precedent-setting, the court had little incentive to undertake a review of the issues, Carrizosa said.

Garcia and Riviere sued then-Mayor Steve Dicterow, the city and a host of others in 2006, alleging that the city was in violation of federal immigration law by helping to fund and otherwise assist the hiring site on Laguna Canyon Road.

It is illegal in Laguna Beach to solicit employment anywhere but at the designated hiring site. City officials feared that if the designated site were eliminated, it would open the door to unregulated solicitation on the city’s streets and sidewalks — the original reason the hiring site was opened in the early 1990s.

The site is operated by the nonprofit Cross Cultural Council, which does not require job applicants to prove they are legally entitled to work in the country.

Judicial Watch’s Director of Litigation Paul Orfanedes acknowledged it is highly unlikely the group will seek review of the case by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We are disappointed the [state] Supreme Court decided not to look at the issue,” Orfanedes said.

“The city is in direct conflict with federal laws designed to minimize the incentive for people to come to the U.S. illegally, such as giving them jobs.”

As for taking the case to the highest court in the land, Orfanedes said it would be highly unlikely the U.S. Supreme Court would take up a case that the state Supreme Court declined to review. “They’re not going to do that,” he said.

Judicial Watch, which files suit all over the country on various issues, may again target Laguna Beach’s hiring site, he said.

Garcia, who has led protests in Laguna Beach against city funding of the hiring site, could not be reached for comment.