NORTH COUNTY (California) TIMES

June 20, 2006

Carlsbad orders migrants to move from Cannon Road area

By: BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer

CARLSBAD ---- The dozens of migrant laborers living in makeshift camps along Cannon Road near Agua Hedionda Lagoon must move out by today or face arrest, the Carlsbad Police Department has said.

Enforcement won't actually start for several weeks ---- the posters placed near the camps several weeks ago are just a warning of what's to come, said Cpl. Kevin Lehan, a Carlsbad Police officer who is responsible for handling illegal encampment issues for the city.

"It's almost like a 30-day notice," he said.

Lehan added that the city isn't expecting to find many people still camping in the area when officers return.

The camping spots ---- usually plastic sheeting-covered huts hardly big enough to protect a wooden pallet made into a bed ---- often are home to men from Latin America. Mostly laborers in the region's agricultural fields, many of the campers have come into this country illegally and fear being deported.

"Typically, they don't want to be noticed," Lehan said. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, they're extremely cooperative."

By late Monday, word of the city's enforcement plans seemed to have spread through the roughly 2-acre encampment region. Visits to several camping areas showed packed bags or campsites stripped bare of all bedding and any personal items. The occupants who remained said they knew about the city's decision and were making plans to leave.

Dashing down a narrow dirt trail, a 21-year-old man named Carlos from Oaxaca, Mexico, stopped briefly and said he had lived in the canyon for four months ever since he came across the border. He said he now plans to share a rented apartment with a group of people.

On Monday afternoon, Carlos didn't have time to worry about where he would be sleeping in the nights to come ---- he had to get to his second job. He works from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the flower fields near Cannon Road, then from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. at a local restaurant, he said.

Juan, 42, another hillside occupant, said he will move to another illegal camping spot in Del Mar where he lived before coming to Carlsbad. He camps because he has to ---- that's the only way he can send $200 every two weeks to his wife and six children in Mexico, he said.

"It is very difficult because there are very few strawberries and you can't make enough to pay rent," he said through a translator.

It's been several years since the city ordered laborers living illegally in the canyon area just southwest of the intersection of Cannon Road and Faraday Avenue to leave. In 2003, the forced removal of migrant laborers attracted protesters and much publicity.

The situation has changed these days in the area, both city and migrant advocates say. Once home to more than 100 people, this year the number of occupants peaked at roughly 50 people, said Carlsbad attorney Michael Wischkaemper, who has long been active in migrant issues.

Wischkaemper attributes the decline in part to what he says is a change in the hiring practices at the strawberry fields on the north side of the roadway. The managers are now firing people if they find out they're living in the canyon, he said.

Peter Mackauf, general manager of the Carlsbad Strawberry Co., said his company does tell people not to camp in the brush areas, but he said he doesn't think that's the reason the numbers have dropped. He attributes that to the fact that people find it more difficult these days to get back and forth across the U.S.-Mexico border.

People who used to live in the temporary camp are now renting with multiple friends because they see their living conditions as permanent rather than temporary, he said.

"Now they view themselves as not seasonal workers, but workers with seasonal jobs ... they view themselves as more of a permanent resident even though that isn't what they prefer," he said. "It's created quite a hardship for their families."

For those laborers who cannot afford rent, the Carlsbad Farmworker Housing Coordinating Committee is seeking to establish a shelter. Plans call for locating several trailers at La Posada de Guadalupe, a program that offers beds to homeless men from a variety of backgrounds. Campaign organizer Tom Maddox said they have raised $25,000 toward the project so far and are looking for donations.

From police Officer Lehan's perspective, the reason there are fewer people camping in the area is simple ---- it's less secluded than it used to be. The city is building a nearly 400-acre golf course and a private company is building a large-scale resort near the illegal encampments.

Usually, the city has hands-off policy unless illegal campers are causing problems, he said. In this case, several city trail volunteers reported that they discovered "belligerent" illegal campers in the area and the campers refused to leave when asked, he said.

A roughly 2-acre area, the encampments cover both city and private land.

The city is now attempting to figure out where the property lines are and who is responsible for removing the illegal structures, Lehan said.