Dan's Papers - May 1, 2009 - HOMELESS AND HUNGRY IN SOUTHAMPTON

It's a paradox - an issue that stirs passions and is as complex as so many of the problems facing the country today. But this one has one difference - it has a human face. A human Latino face. In recent weeks, photos have shown the "dwellings" of the homeless in Southampton up in the North Hampton Bays Woods, made of wooden loading dock skids and other refuse, while local publications report stories about the closing of a soup kitchen on the donated space of a private vendor. In all, it has drawn a lot of attention to the plight of the jobless poor on the East End.

The focus is on undocumented immigrants. All told, it is not a pretty picture, particularly when there are reports of children who have had no breakfast showing up daily at the Springs School without lunch money, or men waiting for cash day labor by the 7-11 in Southampton and begging for food money. It seemed like only yesterday that these men were demanding a minimum of $150 per day in cash to work on the projects all around the Hamptons, when the great expansion of wealth was white hot just two years ago. Now there is practically no work and the anger of some of the frustrated populace seems to be boiling over, and aimed at these easy targets.

"If they were starving dogs, everyone would be pitching in to help feed them and find them homes," said one older man who then added, "But they don't belong here."

And that seems to be the problem. As the saying goes, there's no right way to do the wrong thing. When Mayor Mark Epley tried to address a human angle of the illegal day workers issue, protesters harassed him at his Southampton Village home. Epley sees the situation as tragic, but also as politically toxic. In Southampton there are protesters - reportedly paid professionals - demanding the deportation of undocumented immigrants because they are costing American Union workers jobs or keeping wages for low-end workers down to sub poverty levels.

This crisis has other human faces - one being Sister Briege Lavery, a Catholic nun with the Sisters of Mercy in Water Mill who championed the soup kitchen for hungry unemployed day workers. She will continue to fight the good fight in the name of the poor.

In the meantime, what has happened recently has not been Southampton Town's and Village's finest moment. With a perhaps over zealous Southampton Village building inspector single handedly closing down a volunteer soup kitchen set up at the Southampton Tire property, it is time to take a look at the real issue. The federal government, with Democrats in control of the House of Representatives, Senate and the White House, have avoided taking a strong position on the legal way to deal with this dilemma. They have in effect left the towns and cities of America with a carte blanche on creating policy with no regard to the law. This has created ill will among neighbors who seem to be polarized along two major positions, compassion for the less fortunate or disgust for illegals who are causing their school taxes to go through the roof due to issues ranging from increased curriculum needs in the local schools, health care and housing issues. So until there is more direction from Washington and state/local leaders (Charles Schumer, Tim Bishop), mayors like Epley will have to tip toe on a fine line between human decency and the actual law in dealing with this mess.

Finally there are the faces of the children who are the real victims of their parent's decision to make a go of it in a new country and try to navigate around the law for their advantage. With no money, these children are going hungry. It is a shame it has come to this with many feeling no compassion for human suffering because their incomes are going down while their local taxes are going up. Many locals feel their lives and their children's future lives are being compromised by the undocumented immigrants. It is not a pretty picture and there's no silver bullet solution. The whole dilemma has resulted in embarrassing behavior on the part of some East End residents who feel distain for suffering individuals because their ethnicity seems to say "without documentation." Is it racism, frustration? Is it wrong? Immoral? The answer lies in where you stand. The solution will come at a huge cost and at the moment many argue the country has more pressing problems. That argument is leaving local towns, including those on the East End, twisting in the wind.