Advocates for day laborers praised a federal court on Wednesday for ruling that a provision of Arizona’s SB 1070 which criminalized the solicitation of day labor work likely violated the free speech rights of the First Amendment.
The court found that day laborers “are being chilled from soliciting employment” because of the anti-day labor sections of the law.
“Today the Court vindicated the rights of day laborers to peacefully solicit work and blocked Arizona’s illegal attempt to mute them,” Victor Viramontes, who serves as national senior counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said in a statement. “Courts will not tolerate laws banning day labor solicitation, and other jurisdictions considering similar laws should take note of this important ruling.”
