| National
Group Threatens to Sue Over Labor Site |
By Erin E. Fogg 
Observer Staff Writer |
| Judicial Watch Inc., a national organization acting as an
ethical and legal watchdog of the federal government, issued
a letter July 25 to Planning Commission chairman Carl Sivertsen
threatening to sue the town if a proposed day labor site is
approved. |
| Established in 1994, Judicial Watch has become known for
previous lawsuits against the administration of President
Clinton and for lawsuits surrounding the inspection of ballots
in the 2000 Florida election. |
| The group has expressed interest in illegal immigration
issues, exemplified by its support for citizen volunteers
in the Minuteman Project to patrol the Arizona-Mexico border
last April. |
| But, this is Judicial Watch's first involvement in a day
labor site, said Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton. "This
one drew our attention," Fitton said. "This is a
prime, terrible example of what governments ought not to be
doing in terms of handling illegal immigration." |
| Judicial Watch became interested in Herndon's controversy
over establishing a formal, regulated day labor hiring site
at the police station after hearing from concerned citizens
and viewing media reports, he said. |
| The organization aims to help those citizens "who feel
like they don't have a voice" by "effectively advocating
on their behalf," Fitton said. |
| In the letter to town officials, a litigator from the organization
stated its "clients" are "concerned residents
and taxpayers of the Town of Herndon and Fairfax County." |
| Fitton declined to identify his clients, but said their
names would be made public if the day labor site is approved
and Judicial Watch moves forward with a lawsuit. |
| The letter said a potential lawsuit would be based on use
of taxpayer resources, town-owned property for the site and
county funds, to operate the site in an effort to facilitate
the hiring of illegal immigrants. |
| Judicial Watch's letter cited federal immigration laws that
make it illegal to knowingly, or in reckless disregard, encourage
an alien to enter or reside in the country illegally. |
| "Certainly, facilitating the illegal employment of
undocumented aliens, as is contemplated by the proposed day
laborer site, may be deemed encouraging or inducing an alien
to come to, enter or reside in the United States, or, at a
minimum, aiding and abetting such conduct," the letter
stated. |
| Fitton said the community is being harmed by this "flagrant
law breaking." Judicial Watch is prepared to go forward
with a lawsuit, but is hoping the town officials pay attention
to the letter. |
| "We'd be quite happy if we didn't have to file a lawsuit,"
he said. "We're not looking for a fight, but we're prepared
to do so. We don't make idle threats." |
| Sivertsen said the letter will not effect the Planning Commission's
proceedings on the application filed by Reston Interfaith
and Project Hope and Harmony. |
| "The commission is not easily intimidated," he
said. "We'll run a very crisp, professional meeting." |
| Town officials are most interested in hearing from residents
of Herndon, especially those in the immediate vicinity of
the site located near Rock Hill and Sterling roads, Sivertsen
said. Bona fide concerns related to the proposed land use,
such as pedestrians walking through residential neighborhoods
and the impact on traffic, are what the commission is listening
to, he said. |
| "Our issue is with land use, period," Sivertsen
said. Certain zoning standards must be met, he said, just
like any other application for a conditional use permit. |
| In response to the funding concerns for the site, Sivertsen
used an analogy of recent proposed developments in town. "We
didn't ask Stanley Martin or Commerce Bank who was funding
their projects," he said. As far as immigration status,
he referenced a new private school approved on Crestview Drive.
"We didn't ask them where their kids are coming from
or what qualifications their teachers have." |
| Mayor Michael O'Reilly said the letter from Judicial Watch
was an "interesting approach." |
| "The letter is very premature, to threaten the Planning
Commission, who merely makes a recommendation to the Town
Council," O'Reilly said. "I certainly don't think
our Planning Commission should be bullied by a Washington,
D.C. litigation mill." |
| O'Reilly, who practices litigation and corporate law at
The O'Reilly Law Firm and who in the 1980s served on an ad
hoc committee to review the town's legal issues before a full-time
town attorney was hired, does not think a court would seriously
entertain a lawsuit against the town from Judicial Watch. |
| "I don't believe their threat of litigation has any
real merit," he said. |
| When asked why Judicial Watch would become involved with
the operations of a municipality rather than the federal government,
and why Herndon when there are well-established day labor
sites in towns all over the country, Fitton said the group
is involved in corruption on all levels and is "getting
into the fight" here in Herndon in an effort to reach
other localities operating day labor sites. |
| "This is a national issue that Herndon is confronting,"
he said. "It is important that every local official understand
that supporting illegal immigration is prohibited by law." |
