Upset in Vista : Influx of New Homes Stirs Friction With Aliens

Each weekday morning, several dozen illegal aliens gather on a street corner near downtown Vista, waiting to be picked up by contractors, homeowners and others seeking cheap day labor. The process is a time-honored tradition in northern San Diego County, where certain intersections have long functioned as outdoor hiring halls for the illegal work force.

In Vista, however, the arrival of residents at a new apartment complex near the workers’ longtime gathering place has recently stirred frictions between the community and the laborers. Residents have complained to authorities, contending that the workers represent an undesirable element--and a potential source of crime--in the community of 45,000.

In a petition signed by 52 individuals, occupants of the nearby apartment complex demanded last month that the City of Vista take “immediate corrective action” to alleviate the problem. City officials, in conjunction with U.S. immigration authorities, have vowed to attempt to curb the problem.

“I’d like to clean that area up so that residents would be able to live there safely and comfortably,” Vista Mayor Gloria McClellan said.

Cheap Labor Appreciated

The problem is not an isolated one in North County, a fast-growing, largely middle-class--and Anglo--area that is also home to thousands of undocumented workers from Mexico. The workers, who live a kind of shadow existence in the midst of their more affluent neighbors, are well-appreciated for their cheap labor; they are often hired to trim hedges or clear out fields for the minimum wage or less.

However, resentments often arise when, for one reason or another, the workers are suddenly perceived as being uncomfortably prominent--and somewhat threatening.

Throughout North County, the development of former agricultural tracts is making illegal aliens--mostly Mexican men--more and more visible. In addition, workers and U.S. officials say that the new immigration law--which provides penalties for employers who hire undocumented laborers--may also be increasing unemployment among the migrant population, causing more of them to gather on corners or knock on doors in search of work.

“When all these illegal aliens were employed working in the fields, hardly anyone worried about them,” noted Mike Connell, Border Patrol agent in charge of the patrol’s El Cajon station, which covers northern San Diego County. “Their visibility is the problem.”

Much-Debated Issue

As in Vista, charges of criminal behavior generally accompany residents’ complaints about the workers. The issue is a much-debated one--with no clear-cut resolution. Critics have long maintained that illegal aliens commit an inordinate amount of crime throughout San Diego County, while immigrants’ advocates respond that there is no basis for such claims.

“A lot gets blown out of proportion,” said Ozvaldo Venzor, who heads an Encinitas group called Friends of the Undocumented and describes the problem more as a clash of two very different cultures. “Their presence bothers people. They look dirty; they may even be dirty. . . . Here we are in this manicured-lawn type comunity, and they’re considered a blemish on the landscape. So people say, ‘We’ll get rid of ‘em.’ ”

Indeed, despite the fervor of complaints about the illegal aliens in Vista, police and other authorities could cite no violent crime or robbery committed by the laborers.

A slaying attributed to the aliens--and even reported as fact by the Vista Press--apparently never occurred, yet it has often been cited by those critical of the aliens’ presence as evidence of the severity of the problem. (In fact, Sheriff’s Department officers are investigating a series of robberies committed against the workers in Vista.)

‘Sense of Discomfort’

Asked about residents’ complaints regarding the laborers, Sheriff’s Sgt. Mack Smith replied, “It’s mainly a sense of discomfort.”

Deputy City Manager Jeanette Farris added: “I think, in general, that people feel intimidated seeing 20 to 30 young men standing on a street corner.”

One official compares the recent emergence of the problem to the sudden coyote “problem” that occurs when Southern California developers build in once-isolated hillsides favored by the animals. The coyotes were always there, he noted, but only became visible when the developments arrived.

“The aliens were there first,” the Border Patrol’s Connell noted of the illegal workers in Vista.

Parents Complained

Last year, an outcry ensued when a group of Carlsbad parents complained that illegal immigrants were “harassing” schoolchildren at Kelly School, an elementary school. The complaints, although based largely on vague anecdotal evidence, prompted U.S. immigration authorities to raid nearby gathering spots for undocumented workers and arrest thousands of aliens, who were returned to Mexico.

“We’ve got to protect our children,” explained Harold Ezell, western regional commissioner for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

In Vista, the controversy has yet to reach the emotion-charged level of the Kelly School debate.

The area in question is at Postal Way and Santa Fe Place, where illegal aliens have apparently been gathering on weekday mornings for many years in search of day labor. Prospective employers in need of low-cost day-workers know where to find them.

New Complex Opened

Last year, however, the 70-unit Vista Garden Apartments, opened at the intersection. Residents have to walk right by the waiting workers. Inevitably, the increased contact led to tension.

Residents have maintained that the workers trespass on the complex’s property, peer in windows, litter and use the area as an outdoor toilet. Complicating the matter is the fact that many of the workers stay on the adjoining two-acre property of Carmen Duran, a Mexican-born U.S. citizen who has lived in Vista for more than 30 years. (Other workers sleep out in nearby brush, near the Santa Fe railroad tracks, or share rooms with their colleagues.)

“They’re out there at all hours of the night, singing, drinking, carrying on,” said Robert Green, real estate manager of the apartment complex.

Duran, a widow, acknowledged that many of the men stay on her property--which is also home to chickens, peacocks, cats, dogs and a flourishing garden--but she said they are there without her permission. “What can I do?” asked the animated Duran, speaking a high-speed mixture of Spanish and English.

Duran Cited

As part of a cleanup prompted by the alien problem, city and county officials last week cited Duran for several alleged violations of health-related codes, according to Clara Boss, supervising code enforcement officer with the City of Vista. Duran has two weeks to clean up the property before facing a court appearance and possible fines, Boss said.

Even if they are forced from Duran’s property, however, the workers are likely to find other places to live. The workers say they have few alternatives--and they say, they don’t want to bother area residents.

“We just come here to work,” said Eleuterio Cruz, a 47-year-old father of 11 from the Mexican state of Oaxaca who was interviewed at the corner on a recent morning. “It’s not our desire to cause problems for anyone; we just want to find work.”