HOUSTON—Two miles from all the terminals at Bush Intercontinental Airport sits a massive staging area for taxicabs.

It is a large parking lot where hundreds of drivers sit, wait and even at times sleep for four to six hours.

The drivers are waiting to pick up a fare – just a single person.

Then they return, just to hurry up and wait all over again.

But attorney Reginald McKamie says his clients, nearly 1,000 independent taxi cab drivers, are victims of discrimination.

“These men and women are the ambassadors for Houston,” said McKamie. “They are living or working in deplorable conditions. They are working in conditions worse than Third World country conditions.”

McKamie points to bathroom and shower facilities in the staging area that he says are in horrible condition.

A few years ago, the city added the portable facilities and promised the cabbies they would have running water.

“I assumed at this point that they would get around to it,” said cabbie Tommy Breedlove. “But I have been working out there for 20 years and they haven’t done anything.”

Breedlove said they are forbidden to go to the bathroom at the terminals.

So, to get the city’s attention, the drivers have decided to file a federal discrimination suit.

The lawsuit claims that 90 percent of the drivers are minorities, and that the rules and regulations placed upon them are unfair.

They are upset they cannot refuse to pick up passengers they consider dangerous. They believe that led to the murder of one of their own last year.

“They have had discussions with the mayor. He has ignored it. City Council has ignored it. Something has to be done,” said McKamie.

And filing the lawsuit, the cab drivers believe, is the right first step.