County Officials Dedicate New Immigrant Worker Center in Wheaton

CASA welcome center expected to generate 3,000 new jobs

County Executive Ike Leggett, left, and CASA de Maryland Executive Director Gustavo Torres Dan Schere

As County Executive Ike Leggett prepares to leave office in less than two weeks, he added one more accomplishment to his legacy Wednesday.

Leggett received praise from several community leaders who were among the 40 people who gathered in Wheaton to celebrate the opening of CASA de Maryland’s day labor center, located at 11425 Grandview Avenue.

“On behalf of our community, we just want to say ‘Muchisimos gracias.’ You are our first Latino county executive,” joked Gustavo Torres, the executive director of CASA de Maryland, an immigrant advocacy organization that operates seven community centers across the state. CASA has two locations in Silver Spring and one in Rockville, according to its website.

The county helped CASA acquire the funds for the center more than a year ago, CASA Lizette Olmos said in an email.

According to a press release, the center will create 3,000 jobs for the county’s immigrant community, at a minimum pay rate of $16 per hour. The center will also offer classes in fields such as building maintenance, computer access, resume writing and health and safety. It is expected to produce $1.5 million in annual wages.

Among other actions, Torres praised Leggett for supporting the proposed federal DREAM Act, which would offer a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. Torres also praised Leggett for supporting the County Council’s approval of a $15 per hour minimum wage last year.

Torres also noted that Leggett had promised the creation of the Wheaton center early in on his administration. Leggett is completing his third term as county executive.

“The first month that you were in office, you said we need to create a welcome center in Wheaton for the workers. We never are going to forget it,” he said.

In an interview, Leggett said Wheaton is a good location for the center because it is to a large immigrant population that includes mostly Latinos and Haitians, and the building’s close proximity to public transit is also an advantage.

“What I wanted to do is make sure our county treats everyone with dignity and respect. They [immigrants] just simply want an opportunity, and I want our government to be in a position where they give people an opportunity,” he said.

County Council member Nancy Navarro, the council’s first Latina member, said in a speech that 33 percent of Montgomery County’s population is made of immigrants, and 40 percent of Wheaton’s population is made of immigrants.. She reflected on her experience of coming to the United States at age 17 to go to college.

“I understand the challenges that everyone here faces when you’re coming to a new country and you’re trying to make it,” she said.

Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@bethesdamagazine.com