PRO-IMMIGRATION ACTIVISTS' SECRET WEAPON - THE CONSITUTION

Herndon, Virginia's new law making it a crime for day laborers discussing employment with motorists is thrown out on First Amendment freedom of speech grounds. The city tried to regulate this activity in the same way as prostitution.

A Fairfax Circuit Court judge threw out Herndon's anti-solicitation ordinance yesterday, finding that the town's two-year-old prohibition against laborers and motorists discussing employment on the streets violates First Amendment rights to free speech.

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Thomas's [the plaintiff's] attorney, Alexa K. Moseley of Fairfax, argued that the ordinance violated First Amendment protections because it singled out a specific category of speech -- employers and workers striking a deal -- and banned it on the basis of its content. The town said the ban was legitimate because it addressed traffic and other public safety problems posed by solicitation activity.

After Hazleton and now Herndon, state and local legislators will hopefully start to get the message that there are parameters to how far they can go. And it will hopefully cause these folks to put the pressure back on Congress to do its job and address the immigration crisis.

Comments

[Greg Siskind]

The group that issued this study is basically an extension of NumbersUSA. Take it with a grain of salt.

[Legal and waiting]

Of course, from NumbersUSA standpoint legal immigration is a bigger problem - there is no "real" reason to blame these people for anything, and it is very hard to kick them out.

[guyfromsg]

Greg, how do I send links to you. Here is one you should blog about. It's about immigration to add 100+ million in 2060. Buried in it is the comment from NumbersUsa guy. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20070831-9999-1n31immig.html

“Illegal immigration is a big problem in this country, but it's not nearly as much of a problem as legal immigration,” Beck said.

This is the first time I hear legal immigration is a bigger problem than illegal immigration :(