(Washington, DC) -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption announced today that it has filed an amicus curiae brief in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California in support of a City of Redondo Beach, California ordinance banning illegal aliens from seeking work on city streets.  U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo Marshall ruled in April 2006 that the ordinance, first implemented in 1987, violated the illegal aliens’ First Amendment right to free speech and issued an injunction preventing police from enforcing the law. 

Judicial Watch contends the lower court misapplied the First Amendment in its decision, failing to differentiate between commercial speech, which is entitled to lesser protection under the First Amendment, and political or expressive speech, which enjoys greater protection under the First Amendment. 

“Not unlike hot dog vendors or t-shirt sellers commonly seen on the streets of busy cities across America, day laborers ‘propose a commercial transaction’ to prospective employers by standing in certain locations, like streets or sidewalks…no political message is conveyed.  The only message is ‘hire me,’” Judicial Watch argued in its brief.  “The District Court erred in its review of the City’s anti-solicitation ordinance by not analyzing street-side solicitation of employment as commercial speech.  By doing so, the District Court failed to apply the appropriate First Amendment analysis to the ordinance.  Because of this fundamental error, the District Court’s ruling should be reversed.”

Judicial Watch also pointed out that the District Court was wrong to suggest there are no laws preventing undocumented workers from seeking employment.  It is unlawful for illegal aliens to work in the United States and for anyone to aid and abet the violation of federal immigration laws.  According to a recent University of Illinois survey, at least seventy-five percent (75%) of day laborers in the United States are illegal aliens. 

“Most Americans would reject the notion that illegal aliens begging for jobs in the streets should be protected under the First Amendment.  We hope the appeals court agrees that the U.S. Constitution does not protect this illegal behavior,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “Redondo Beach ought to be able to enforce its anti-solicitation law and to protect its citizens.”

Judicial Watch has launched a number of lawsuits and investigations across the country in order to challenge local government actions and public expenditures that violate and undermine immigration laws. 

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Click here to read a copy of Judicial Watch's amicus brief

Click here to find out more information about Judicial Watch’s immigration programs, and to read Judicial Watch’s amicus curiae briefs.