Some day laborers bypass help

Each day, about the same number of workers gather at convenience stores at University Boulevard and Piney Branch Road in Silver Spring as use a taxpayer-funded center run by immigrant advocacy group CASA of Maryland a half-block away.

During the first nine months of 2007, CASA reported serving between 50 and 80 workers most days — while at least that many waited at an Exxon station and 7-Eleven store nearby.