SALT LAKE CITY — Day laborers have it tough, their advocates say.

Typically undocumented immigrants, they can face wage theft, exploitation, discrimination and verbal abuse. Sometimes, their supporters say, they are targeted by police, getting tickets for minor offenses that can raise the threat of deportation. Then there's the issue of having to stand in the elements — typically around a big box store like Home Depot or Lowe's — as they seek construction and other short-term jobs.

"It's not easy to stand on a corner with the different weather," said Luis Valentan, an organizer with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which advocates on behalf of day laborers.

With all that in mind, representatives from several organizations that advocate for Latinos and immigrants gathered Wednesday at the Mexican Civic Center in Salt Lake City as a show of support for the contingent. Among those on hand were Eduardo Baca, the consul general at the Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake City, and representatives from the Salt Lake City Police Department.

"The message is respect. The fact that they're standing on a corner looking for work isn't a crime," Valentan said. Even if they're undocumented, he said, day laborers pay taxes and contribute in a positive way to the communities where they live.

Oscar Correa, a DJ for the Spanish-language radio station La Ley 107.1 FM and one of the presenters, said the event also served to pay homage to day laborers given the derision they can face.

"The work is important, and today we want to honor that," he told the crowd. "We're here today to tell you — you have rights."

Belia Paz saw the event as a means of connecting day laborers to some of the advocacy groups that can help them and, as Correa said, drumming home the message that they still have rights, regardless of their migratory status. She's general manager of La Lay and Mi Preferida 104.7 FM, another Spanish-language radio station, and Utah director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a Latino advocacy group.

"We're trying to educate and provide resources," Paz said.

Beyond that, she described the event as a preliminary step in reaching out to Utah and Salt Lake County leaders to advocate on behalf of day laborers in the face of the problems they encounter. "We just need to go out there and meet with everybody and let them know what's going on," she said.

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Valentan said he's encountered locations where day laborers gather in West Valley City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, Lehi, Eagle Mountain and Sandy. Among the issues they face are getting shortchanged or stiffed altogether after completing a job, racial insults and ticketing. In one Utah city, he said, police will ticket day laborers for trespassing if they step from public to private property as they're scouting for jobs.

The tickets can come with a fine of $650 to $1,000, he maintains, while Brianna Puga said encounters with the legal system, even if for minor offenses, can put day laborers in "the deportation pipeline." Puga, immigrant rights community organizer for Comunidades Unidas, a West Valley Latino and immigrant advocacy group, also spoke Wednesday.

The number of day laborers can be a fluid figure, according to Valentan, but Puga estimates there are around 1,000 in Salt Lake County. Comunidades Unidas is in the midst of crafting a list of priority issues facing the Latino and immigrant communities and the plight of day laborers is one of them.

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