Latino activists seek out AG McCollum

Latino groups opposed to Arizona's immigration law plan to pepper Attorney General Bill McCollum at his Orlando office Thursday afternoon.

They want to know how many Florida businesses McCollum has prosecuted for hiring undocumented workers whose wages, they claim hold down the earnings of others.

"People aren't paying attention to who is benefiting from all these undocumented workers," argues Edwin Enciso, head of Florida's chapter of Democracia Ahora.

He tells WDBO that undocumented workers make about $25,000 a year and a documented worker in a textile mill, agriculture field or meat processing plant earns only $10,000 more.

By exploiting illegals, those employers are suppressing wages for the others, he claims.

"If you really want to get at the root cause of an issue, follow the money."

The activist group met Wednesday afternoon with church and community leaders, urging them to begin the discussion in their parishes and mobilize Central Florida Latinos over immigration reform.

"It does a disservice to our community to target the symptoms and not the real problems, thus opting out of looking for real solutions," said Yanidsi Velez, the group's Central Florida coordinator and an immigrant from the Dominican Republic.

She told a gathering of about two dozen people at their South Semoran Blvd office to take their frustration over Arizona's SB1070 and "turn it into positive action."

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