Day Laborers Get More Than Simple Job Offers

Thousands of day laborers come to the United States looking for a better life. The lack of jobs in most Latin American countries force them to leave their homes and take the risk of finding work on our streets. But, the offers may not be what they expect.

Luis Gutierrez is unemployed.

“I’m not scared of a man asking for sex because you can deny it. But the problem, what’s scary to me, is sometimes the people have to do it,” said Gutierrez.

The Riverside County Regional Medical Center found: out of 450 Latino day laborers, 171 of them got offered money in exchange for sex with other men.

News Channel 3 went undercover to investigate how often it happens in the Coachella Valley.

Some day laborers told us they’ve been in that kind of situation but, they don’t always know what the potential “employer” wants.

Candido Lugo is also looking for work and said he has heard of men get these types of offers.

“I was in San Jose, San Francisco area and all the day laborers…It was the same happening everyday, you know they come and pick them up and say ‘Hey, you wanna do something to my house?’ and it’s not the truth,” said Lugo.

Carlos Perez looks for work outside of a U-Haul location.

“They pretend like they’re gonna give you job, but by the time you get home then you see them like getting almost naked and things like that and you know, you gotta turn around and say ‘Hey, that’s not what I’m looking for’,” said Perez.

It can be difficult finding a job here in the United States but, for some day laborers it’s a much better situation than what they left at home. Without a stable paycheck, if a questionable offer means easy money they may not always think about the consequences.

“They think because you need money … they try to touch you they try to … you know, they ask you if you wanna clean their swimming pool and you say ‘OK, I clean the swimming pool,’ and they say ‘Oh yeah, but you gotta change your, you know … and it’s very uncomfortable,” said Perez.

“I say, ‘No’. There’s no way they can force you because if they try to force you, you have to fight with them,” said Gutierrez.

We decided to get some answers to see what our State representatives could do to bring light to a growing problem.

Assemblyman Manuel Perez said he is worried about this issue.

“There are friends in the LGBT community that would work with us on this issue and I also know that I’m sure that there are advocacy groups like the United Farmworkers that would probably be willing to work on this issue together,” said Assemblyman Perez.

Like, Alex Aldana who works with Bienestar, a Coachella Valley organization helping day laborers; some who are only in the country temporarily.

“The cost of people with desperation, trying to bring money back to their family, these people will offer them ‘Oh, OK you can have sex with me for an hour and I’ll give you $500’ but they will not offer them condoms, you know, or protection,” said Aldana.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report the most common method of HIV transmission among Latino men in the U.S. is sex with other men. But, the stigma and homophobia existing in the Latino culture is a huge barrier when it comes to sex education, risks and illnesses. The fear of being judged by their friends or families can push these men to avoid getting tested or look for help.

“When they’re done or when the season’s over, and they live in Mexicali and that area, they bring it back to the family. So the trend is not only local, but it travels,” said Aldana.

“These folks are vulnerable and that’s just absolutely not right. No matter who it is and who it happens to,” said Assemblyman Perez.

Doctor Jon Persichino from the Clinicas de Salud Pueblo Inc. in Mecca tells us this is a problem all across California. He said local clinics or health centers should provide services so these workers can get treatment.