PHOENIX -- A day labor center that has been at the center of the immigration debate is up for sale.
The
Macehualli Day Labor Center opened in 2003 at 25th Street and Bell Road. It has been on the market now for the past four months. The sale price was recently dropped from $879,000 to $739,000.
Carlos Garcia, who works with Salvador Reza, a Latino Activist who runs the center, explains that they are unable to keep up with the mortgage and are at risk of foreclosure.
"The people aren't going away," Garcia said. "What is going to happen is that the workers are going to head back out into the street. It is just better for everyone when there is a center and it is safer."
The opening of the center was met with protests from illegal immigration opponents.
In 2008, Sheriff Joe Arpaio conducted a crime sweep in the area which sparked huge protests.
The financial problems have been ongoing throughout the years as the center's organizers have struggled to keep backers.
The final blow came this year when Chicanos Por La Causa had to pull their funding due to hard economic times.
Many business owners in the area aren't sure how the center possibly shutting down would impact them.
"They don't support us and they really haven't done anything against us," said Eliot Fuller, owner of the Wagon Yard Steak House nearby.
Fuller is also active with the Northeast Phoenix Neighborhood Action Alliance.
"It doesn't improve the image of the area having people standing around looking for work right on Bell Road," he said. "But the center has taken some of the people off the street and reduced the negativity."
Garcia and Reza hope they can raise money to pay the mortgage and keep the center open.
So far, the realtor handling the sale says there has been only minor interest in the property and no offers.
