CliffyWorld

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Wednesday 8/13/08 requiring certain home improvement stores to develop plans for dealing with day laborers who congregate nearby in search of jobs.

The ordinance mandates that proposed big-box stores obtain conditional-use permits, which could then require them to build day-labor centers with shelter, drinking water, bathrooms and trash cans.

Home Depot, Lowes and other big box home improvement stores will have to pay 100% of the cost for materials and labor to construct shelters in their store parking lots. Of course you would think that the employers of the Illegal’s would contribute a percentage of funding or that the laborers building the shelters would be those who would use them. As we all know logic does not prevail in California’s state government.

Stores would not have to make a plan if the city determined that there were not significant numbers of day laborers in the area or that they were not expected to generate increased trash or noise or impede traffic. The ordinance would apply only to stores of 100,000 square feet or more.

"We welcome it," said Pablo Alvarado of the Los Angeles-based National Day Laborer Organizing Network. "We need it. The workers deserve it.” Marvin Stewart, president of the Minuteman Project, said the ordinance was another example of how the city condones illegal immigration. "All of this is flying in the face of what the city is supposed to be doing in terms of upholding the law," Stewart said.

Is Pablo Alverado correct when he says that illegal alien day laborers deserve shelter? Illegals are using our schools, hospitals, welfare, housing and legal systems so why not provide them with free shelter at the local Home Depot or Lowes as well.

There is a bigger problem here rather than the immigration issue. Home Depot and Lowes have to define what a safe shelter is, how to build it and what is should contain.

Here are some quotes from the U.S. Army Field Manual, No. 21-76, “Shelters.” I hope this helps the CEO’s and contractors working for Home Depot and Lowes.

“A shelter can protect you from the sun, insects, wind, rain, snow, hot or cold temperatures, and enemy observation. It can give you a feeling of well-being. It can help you maintain your will to survive. In some areas, your need for shelter may take precedence over your need for food and possibly even your need for water. For example, prolonged exposure to cold can cause excessive fatigue and weakness (exhaustion). An exhausted person may develop a "passive" outlook, thereby losing the will to survive. The most common error in making a shelter is to make it too large. A shelter must be large enough to protect you. It must also be small enough to contain your body heat, especially in cold climates.”

Additionally:

It must be large enough and level enough to lie down comfortably, have camouflaged escape routes, provide protection against wild animals and rocks and dead trees that might fall, be free from insects, reptiles, and poisonous plants and blend in with the surroundings

A warning to all Big Box home improvement centers located in US sanctuary cities. Get ready to build. While drawing up your blueprints consider building overnight accommodations with plenty of amenities such as: televisions, radios, stoves, refrigerators, food, magazines, scenic views and personal assistants so your Illegals can be entertained well enough to stay off the streets at night reducing the crime in your communities. If you’re not sure if your store is in a sanctuary city, click on this link: http://www.ojjpac.org/sanctuary.asp

Consumers of Lowes and Home Depot who support sanctuary cities should consider helping these stores foot the bill and labor costs by purchasing building supplies from these stores to build additional shelters on your driveways and in your backyards.

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