PORTLAND, Ore. - Mayor Tom Potter wants to build a central hiring site for day laborers, an idea that has drawn some opposition in Portland.

As many as 300 day laborers stand on Portland's sidewalks every day looking for work and the mayor wants to put them all in one spot at a cost of around $200,000.

"I don't consider $200,000 a drop in the bucket, but I think it's a good investment," Potter said.

Rodjrik, a day laborer, told KATU News that guys like him may not even use the mayor's central hiring site for fear it is an immigration trap.

"It's like a regular joke," he said.  "You know, a guy pulls up in a van, everybody jumps in and then he flashes a badge."

To try to calm those fears, Potter said police are not allowed to help in federal raids, so the Portland Police Bureau would not target those at the day labor site.

Potter believes a central hiring site is a good idea because it would shield day laborers from the rain and cold, keep them from urinating in public and leaving trash on the streets, and help them avoid getting ripped off by employers who simply don't pay them at the end of the day.

"Maybe in Portland we can have a way where they can have recourse and get the pay that is due them," Potter said.

Opponents are concerned the city might be liable if day laborers commit crimes at the central hiring site. 

Then there is the controversy surrounding illegal immigration.  Jim Ludwick with Oregonians For Immigration Reform issued a statement in response to the mayor's idea:

"Mayor Potter is aiding and abetting illegal activity.  How is using taxpayer dollars for a central hiring site different from the city opening a brothel?  Both are illegal."

"That's a stretch, isn't it," Mayor Potter said after hearing Ludwick's statement.

As for where a hiring site would go, that is still up in the air.  Potter hopes to have a site in place by January.