Hiring hall becoming school for immigrants
Classes in English
& first aid now on
men’s daily schedule
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

CLARE MARIE CELANO Rita Dentino offers English lessons to men who come to the day laborers’ hiring hall at the Second Baptist Church, Freehold Borough.

FREEHOLD — The Fellowship Hall at the Second Baptist Church on Throck-morton Street is quiet now. All evidence of activity is pretty much gone.

The chairs have been neatly placed on tables. Only an hour or so ago the chairs were filled with immigrants who are trying to learn English. Today’s class was taught by volunteer Rita Dentino, a member of the Monmouth County Residents for Immigrants Rights. The men who filled the chairs were listening, writing and learning.

Although the Second Baptist Church’s hiring hall for immigrant day laborers was specifically created in January to give men who are seeking employment a safe place to gather and wait for offers of employment, church officials have expanded on that original idea.

According to Alejandro Abarca, coordinator of the hiring hall, the men who come to the hall on a regular basis are keeping themselves busy learning while they wait for contractors and landscapers to come and request their services.

CLARE MARIE CELANO Two of the day laborers who come to the hall, keeping themselves busy learning while they wait for the day’s work.

Hiring is slow during the winter, but in a month, he said, things will be very busy. Church officials have said they will allow the hall to be used until the end of March. In the meantime, Freehold Borough and Monmouth County officials are attempting to come up with a solution of where to allow the day laborers to congregate.

A lawsuit that claims Freehold Borough officials inappropriately closed an outdoor hiring area is winding its way through federal court in an attempt to address the situation for the immigrants, many of whom have entered the United States illegally.

According to the Rev. Ricky Pierce, assistant pastor, church officials are working with borough officials and other agencies in the hope of securing a new location for the workers. The plan is to take the whole set-up as it exists now and move it to whatever new location is established.

Right now, in between waiting for work and taking English lessons, the men are also receiving instruction in first aid taught by Abarca, who said he brought his knowledge of first aid and health issues with him from Mexico. On this day the topic of discussion was diabetes and high blood pressure.

Workers start arriving at the hiring hall at about 6:15 a.m. and Abarca logs them in. The men are provided with food through the generosity of donations from organizations like Open Door Food Pantry in Freehold, private contributors and other community organizations. The hiring hall is now registered with the Monmouth County food bank and church officials will be able to purchase food at a discount.

As the men waited for prospective employers to arrive, they were busy with the classes and with cooking soup in the kitchen. Abarca served as a translator during a reporter’s conversation with the men.Raul, 40, is a resident of Freehold who said he came to the United States five years ago. He said he likes the arrangement at the church. He said it is better than waiting for work at the former location on Throckmorton Street that was the borough’s so-called "muster zone." He said he had secured landscaping work five times in the last two weeks while being registered at the hiring hall.

Felix Gonzalez, 57, said he came to the United States six years ago. He was asked why someone his age would take the risk of coming to a new country.

"He needs the job," Abarca answered. "That’s how hard it is where he came from."

Gonzalez has a wife and three sons in Mexico and two sons in the United States. His best case scenario would be to bring his wife and sons to the United States, although he said he does not think that is possible.

His second choice is to save enough money and go home.

Martin, 27, is also a resident of Freehold Borough. He comes to the hiring hall every day and said it is "definitely better than waiting outside at the muster zone." He said there is "more of an opportunity to get work at the hiring hall."

Abarca said he is committed to making life better for the immi­grants.

"When the workers are waiting outside, they are not protected from the elements or from contractors who may possibly abuse them," he said. "Outside there is no system, no order and no protection."

After a short time, Manalapan farmer Hal Rifkin came in looking for two men to help him with some greenhouse work. Rifkin, who noted that he had previously hired workers at the muster zone, said he was comfortable coming to the hir­ing hall and was looking forward to coming back to secure more la­borers if things worked out well.

In a later conversation, Steve Richter, a member of the Monmouth County Residents for Immigrants Rights, said he re­searched the issue of hiring halls in other states and provided informa­tion to borough and county offi­cials regarding operations in Carlsbad, Calif., Concord, Calif., and Austin, Texas. He said the hiring halls in those cities used public and private funds to address some of the issues connected with day laborers.

"It was the most effective way to address this situation," Richter said, adding that the borough’s de­cision to close the Throckmorton Street muster zone did not address all the issues and that "it was not constructive to close that location without providing an alternative location in its place."