The Herndon Town Council may change or rescind a controversial anti-loitering ordinance that local advocates argued is unconstitutional and unfairly targets immigrant day laborers. The National Day Laborer Organizing Network and Advancement Project sent a letter to the Herndon Town Council in October, arguing that the ordinance violated immigrants’ constitutional right of free speech and equal protection and threatening to go to court if the council refused to meet with them to discuss potential solutions.
The Town Council scheduled a private meeting for Jan. 4 to discuss the issue, and may schedule a vote on any changes to the ordinance by the end of January.
“We’re still developing a potential lawsuit, depending on what happens,” said Anita Sinha, a lawyer with Advancement Project. “Since they’re making some kind of movement, we’re waiting to see what that is.”
The ordinance, passed last summer by the outgoing council, bans solicitation of contributions, distribution of literature or sale of merchandise or services by pedestrians to drivers on any public street where on-street parking is not allowed.
It could target anything from people holding signs on sidewalks advertising nearby businesses to day laborers waiting on sidewalks to find work, according to the Advancement Project’s letter to the council.
In addition to the town’s restriction of free speech, attorneys for the mostly Hispanic day laborers likened the ordinance to legislation “motivated by the intent to eliminate the public presence of individuals of a certain race,” a violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.
After meeting with lawyers from Advancement Project, Town Attorney Richard Kaufman sent a letter to council members listing several legal options the town could take, either to change the ordinance, get rid of it, or keep it the same.
Kaufman would not comment on what alternatives he recommended as potential compromises between the town and the advocates.
Advocacy lawyers said that it may be difficult to alter the current ordinance, and that, if a compromise can be found, it may require the council to start from scratch on a new ordinance, according to Rishi Awatramani, spokesman with the human rights advocacy group Virginia New Majority.
Local advocates are still preparing their own suggestions to send to the council, he said, and are hopeful that Herndon will schedule a vote soon. Awatramani wouldn’t reveal what options advocates might pitch.
“It’s been six months and the council hasn’t taken this on in a public session yet,” Awatramani said. “We really think the council needs to recognize that over 700 people have contacted them in some way asking them to take it off the books, and at some point it becomes irresponsible to ignore it.”
