Illegal workers dispute Mayor's story

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Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:14:39 -0400

NorthJersey.com, NJ, USA
Tuesday, October 16, 2007

By JOSEPH AX and SAMANTHA HENRY, STAFF WRITERS

Caption: Undocumented immigrants Victor Evaristo, right, and Elder Chuta say
Lonegan and his driver approached them to do work for him. CHRIS PEDOTA / THE
RECORD

Two undocumented workers hired by Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan last week disputed
his account of events Monday, saying he sought them out for work and never
asked whether they were legal residents.

Lonegan, widely known as a staunch proponent of stricter policies on illegal
immigration, acknowledged he recruited them the morning of Oct. 8 but insisted
he asked them whether they had proper papers and received an affirmative answer
before hiring them.

On Friday, Lonegan had said that the workers had come looking for work at the
Bogota building where his office is located.

The Guatemalan men, 20-year-old Elder Chuta and 22-year-old Victor Evaristo,
said Monday that two men -- a driver and a passenger they later identified as
Lonegan from a photograph -- picked them up along the Route 46 ramp at Broad
Avenue in Palisades Park, a popular spot for day laborers in search of jobs.

The two men were later questioned by police at a home Lonegan owns in Bogota
after a resident called police and said there were two Hispanic men walking
through the vacant residence, which is for sale.

RELATED LINK
Full coverage of Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan
http://www.northjersey.com/lonegan

Lonegan hired the men to assemble lawn signs for his taxpayer advocacy group,
Americans for Prosperity. The driver was an employee of the group who often
drives Lonegan, who is legally blind.

When asked why his account on Friday differed, Lonegan first said he had been
taken aback when told by a reporter that the police had been to the home. He
went on to say that he considered the details irrelevant.

"It doesn't matter to me," he said. "To me, it's irrelevant, whether they were
standing inside or outside. I will hire anybody I want, and if they don't prove
to be proper, they don't get paid."

Chuta said the car pulled over on the morning of Oct. 8, and the man on the
passenger side said, "I need two guys." He said he and Evaristo were driven to
the home, shown the signs and offered $80 each for eight hours of work. They
were offered soda and promised lunch later in the day, he said.

Both workers said they were never asked to show documentation or questioned
about their legal status by Lonegan. Although they said their English was poor,
they said they understand enough to know whether such questions were asked.

Lonegan said he "absolutely" asked about their status and planned to ask them
to fill out paperwork later in the day. When he returned to the house later
that day, he said, they were gone, and he did not realize that police had taken
them to the station.

Evaristo was cited for giving a false identity, a disorderly persons violation,
when a fake Mexican identification card he carried in his wallet -- a document
frequently given to Central Americans by smugglers to help them cross through
Mexico -- did not match the name he gave to officers. He has a Municipal Court
date today at 2 p.m.

Evaristo said they struggled to communicate with the officers, who did not
speak Spanish.

"It's the first time I've ever been questioned by police," Evaristo said. "I
was so nervous. I told them my full name, my birthday. I told the cops the
truth."

On Monday, Lonegan repeated his contention that the police officers would not
have reacted in the same way if the workers had not been Hispanic. He called
for an investigation into the department's handling of the matter on Saturday.

"I have a big problem with this, and I'm not letting it go," he said. "Would it
be OK if I went up to Bogota High School and got a couple of white kids?"

He also questioned why police did not alert him to the incident and accused the
department of attempting to pay him back for acrimonious labor negotiations
earlier this year.

"These two guys did not deserve to be put through this," he said. "These guys
got hurt by malicious cops. If the police had called me, I would have come
right down and straightened it all out."

He said he would like to pay the two men -- out of his own pocket -- to
compensate them for the work they did and to make up for their treatment.

Chief Frank Gurnari, who met with Lonegan on Monday to discuss the incident,
said the allegations of racial profiling were "absurd."

"The officers didn't initiate that investigation," he said. "We responded to a
call for service. They handled that as they would have any similar call."

He also said that the officers had contacted the realty company and may not
have known that Lonegan owned the house. Lonegan has said police are well aware
that he owns the property and should have contacted him last week.

Jerome Fowler, a patrolman and the president of the police union, said the
labor talks were not relevant to the incident.

"We're two months into arbitration," he said. "Are we not supposed to do our
job when a citizen makes a complaint that there are suspicious persons at a
vacant residence in Bogota? I don't see what one has to do with the other."

At a news conference Monday evening, Democratic Councilman Patrick McHale and
Councilwoman Tara Sharp called on the Republican mayor to resign.

"We are appalled at the statements made by Mayor Lonegan about our Police
Department," said McHale, who is running for mayor. "It is ridiculous to imply
that our officers were engaged in any racial discrimination." They said that
Lonegan's policies had created racial tension in the town.

Lonegan, who is not running for reelection, said the statement was simply a
"cheap" campaign ploy.

"The call on me to resign is part of a silly campaign effort," he said. He said
the Democrats should be willing to join him in an investigation of the police
if they are truly convinced there was no improper behavior.

Lonegan said the controversy, which he labeled a "tempest in a teapot," shows
how challenging it is for employers to be certain their workers are legal.

"Should I suspect them?" he said. "I guess in today's environment, you need to
suspect that every Hispanic is illegal. That's the message I'm getting here.

"This is the fallout from a failed federal immigration policy," he said.

Evaristo said he wanted to go to court to explain that he had been trying to
tell the truth, adding that the incident had left him afraid of the potential
legal consequences and the possible impact on his family.

Lonegan, long outspoken on illegal immigration, made headlines last year when
he tried to get McDonald's to remove a Spanish-language billboard in the
borough, and attempted to have English designated the town's official language.

Evaristo and Chuta said they did not know who Lonegan was, and had never heard
of him or his stance on immigration.

"If we had known any of this, knowing the way the immigration debate is here,
we never would have gotten in that car," Evaristro said.

E-mail: ax@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and henrys@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Illegal workers dispute Mayor's story

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