(Washington, DC) – In response to a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch in 2005, the Herndon Town Council voted 6-1 on Tuesday, January 9, in support of a “request for proposal” which seeks a new company to manage the Town’s day laborer site.  According to the proposal, unlike the current site operator, a nonprofit organization called Project Hope and Harmony, the new company will be required to “ensure that every worker using the agency’s services is legally eligible to work in the United States and shall grant the Town of Herndon permission to periodically monitor for compliance with this.”  Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton offered the following statement in response to the Herndon Town Council vote:

“It took over a year and a Judicial Watch lawsuit, but it appears the Herndon Town Council may finally get serious about making sure its day laborer site is operated in a manner consistent with state and federal laws.  Council members took a step in the right direction on Tuesday.  Now they must follow through and do the right thing on behalf of the citizens of Herndon.

“Judicial Watch has been pushing a common sense proposal to screen day laborers for their legal status ever since the new town council took office last summer.  How much taxpayer money has the Town of Herndon wasted (and is wasting) to defend the day laborer site in court while this simple solution has been available to them?  Better late than never, I suppose.

“As Judicial Watch has argued from the beginning, Herndon’s taxpayer-funded day laborer site violates both state and federal law.  The citizens of Herndon clearly do not want their tax dollars used to subsidize this illegal activity.  Judicial Watch will continue to protect the rights of Herndon taxpayers in court until the situation is resolved to their satisfaction.”

Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the Town of Herndon on September 1, 2005 on behalf of Herndon residents who are opposed to the use of taxpayer funds to provide a day laborer site and various other employment services for illegal aliens.  Judicial Watch added Fairfax County to the lawsuit on October 18, 2005 after the county’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to provide $400,000 in taxpayer funds for the operation of three illegal day laborer sites, including the site in Herndon, Virginia.

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Click here for more information on Judicial Watch’s lawsuit against the Town of Herndon and Fairfax County, Virginia

Click here for more information on Judicial Watch's fight against illegal immigration