LEWISVILLE, Texas -- Undercover Lewisville police officers are posing as contractors and cite workers who step off curbs to meet them in the street.

---

Video: Undercover Operation Targets Day Laborers

---

Local worker Jaime Carrera said out of the day laborers at Huffines Plaza, "probably everybody" will run to a truck that pulls up "just to see what's going on."

With that kind of competition for jobs, some workers meet contractors on the street, a safety issue, a practice Lewisville police said is a safety issue.

"We came up with an operation targeting the ones who come out into traffic," Capt. Kevin Deaver said.

Undercover officers pose as contractors and cite or arrest workers who step off the curb. Day workers who approach the officer in the street are given a $500 ticket if they have a valid ID.

"If they do not have any identification, we do arrest them and bring them to the Lewisville jail," Deaver said.

But community activist Carlos Quintanilla said the practice may be unconstitutional.

"Why does it always have to be the undocumented laborer who just comes to work?" he said.

Quintanilla said police should be targeting contractors who hire people illegally.

Police said they have tried targeting contractors, but said those operations were more labor-intensive.

"That shows the disparity in which the laws apply," Quintanilla said.

Carrera said the tactic is a dirty trick.

"They just came here for one reason, to support their families and have a better life," he said.

Quintanilla said he sent a letter to Lewisville asking that police stop the undercover operation or face a court challenge.

So far six workers have been cited and nine have been arrested. None of them have been deported, because judges arraigned and freed them before immigration got involved.