Now it’s a ‘center’ for ‘day laborers’

It didn't take long for Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman to wave the white flag on his controversial proposal to require those who pick up "day laborers" to first acquire a permit or face a fine.

On Thursday -- a week after he first floated the plan -- the mayor backed off. He said he had just "tossed out the idea" to start a dialogue on how to handle day laborers, who hang out in parking lots and on street corners in various areas of the city and county trying to hook up with those looking for cheap, short-term workers.

In reality, the mayor was hoping that the threat of a fine might discourage people from seeking out such workers in the first place, thus drying up the demand for their services. But that was likely wishful thinking. And after facing criticism for the plan -- the ACLU called it unconstitutional; we wondered why the city doesn't simply round up the day laborers, detain those who are likely illegal aliens and turn them over to federal immigration officials -- Mr. Goodman has apparently put it on the back burner.

Good.

In the meantime, though, city and county officials are also still exploring the creation of a center at which day laborers could congregate while waiting for potential employers to pick them up. The theory is that this would encourage the workers to move to a single location, away from the home improvement stores and nurseries that now complain about their presence.

Good luck.

The fact remains that illegals are unlikely to flock to such a center, given their immigration status and their fear of being deported. In fact, the state already has precisely such a set-up -- called the Casual Labor office -- on North A Street near downtown Las Vegas. Obviously, its existence has done little to mitigate the problem.

In other words, if local officials truly want to do something about the issue, see our original suggestion, above.