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<> LA VOZ DE AZTLAN NEWS BULLETIN <>
<>.<>.<> Los Angeles, Alta California <>.<>.<>

September 19, 2006

Mexican Day Laborers Assaulted in Laguna Beach, California

For the third time in recent months, Mexican day laborers or "jornaleros" have been assaulted in the USA. This time the assault allegedly took place at a hiring center in Laguna Beach, California which is located a few miles south of Los Angeles.

According to Darren Lenyi, a spokesman for the Laguna Beach Police Department, two men were arrested Sunday morning and booked for suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and a hate crime. The day labor hiring site where the alleged racial attack took place is at 1690 Laguna Canyon Road.

According to witnesses the men pulled into the hiring center parking lot on the pretext of hiring workers. When a worker approached the vehicle, the two assailants got out of their vehicle and attacked the worker and his friend nearby while yelling anti-Mexican racial epithets. The two men then sped away only to return a few moments later. This time, according to witnesses, they used their vehicle as a deadly weapon to run down two of the workers. The injured workers were taken to a nearby hospital.

This same hiring center in Laguna Beach has recently been the scene of demonstrations against the day laborers by the organization Save-our-State (SOS).

At a news conference yesterday, Pablo Alvarado of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network strongly denounced what he said were racial attacks.