Thread: Beaufort County to consider illegal-immigrant law

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County to consider illegal-immigrant law
BY GINNY SKALSKI, The Island Packet
Published Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Businesses employing illegal immigrants would be punished and so would landlords who rent to them under an ordinance the Beaufort County Council will consider in the coming months.

Councilwoman Starletta Hairston presented the draft "illegal immigration relief ordinance" to the council Monday, saying it would return jobs to legal residents and reduce government costs associated with providing public services to illegal immigrants.

Similar ordinances proposed by several local governments across the country have faced legal battles, and it's unclear whether the county legally could enforce Hairston's proposal.

"Every year this gets worse and worse, and it's almost like we're rewarding bad behavior," she said.

Hairston has said in the past that part of her interest in illegal immigration comes from her husband's stucco business struggling over the past few years and the complaints she's heard from other small-business owners.

Under the proposal, a business could have its business license revoked if it's found to employ undocumented workers. Landlords could be fined or lose a yet-to-be established rental license if they lease to illegal immigrants.

It also would allow deputies with the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office to inquire about a person's citizenship or immigration status if they're detained for a crime.

The proposed ordinance -- the language of which was borrowed from the City Council in Hazelton, Pa. -- has a lot of hurdles to overcome before the full Beaufort County Council would consider it. The American Civil Liberties Union and Hispanic groups are suing the city of Hazelton to block the ordinance. They say it's unconstitutional because enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility.

County attorneys will investigate whether the county has the legal authority to enforce the ordinance, said council Chairman Weston Newton. The council's Community Services/Public Safety Committee is expected to take up the issue in the coming months.

"It is a starting point for a discussion for what a county may or may not be able to do," Newton said.

Hairston's proposal calls on the county's business-license office to be the clearinghouse for complaints about undocumented workers. If it thinks a complaint is credible, it would give a business three days to produce documents proving its workers are legal.

If any workers are found to have improper documentation or are in the United States illegally, it would be up to the business to bring the worker's documentation into compliance or fire the employee, she said. If the business doesn't follow through, then the county could suspend its business license.

"This is not something to be against anybody," Hairston said. "It is just trying to find a way that we can all be regulated by the same set of rules when it comes to hiring, contracting and things like that."

For the ordinance to be truly effective, Hairston said, municipalities would have to join the county's efforts. Otherwise, the ordinance would apply only to unincorporated Beaufort County.

In November 2004, the Hilton Head Island Town Council discussed a proposal by a local anti-illegal-immigration group called Citizens for a Better Community that would have required all business-license applicants to prove they and their employees are legal workers.

The Town Council decided not to enforce illegal immigration, saying it's a federal issue over which it had no authority. Deputy town manager Chuck Hoelle said Tuesday it would be up to the Town Council to take up the issue again if the county moves forward with a plan.

He cautioned, however, that the town had a difficult time revoking a business license a couple of years ago from a company that failed to pay taxes.

"If you don't do your homework," Hoelle said, "you can get yourself into some fun."

The proposal comes as county administrator Gary Kubic works to overhaul the business-license office. Last month, Kubic said that more than 1,000 businesses appeared to be operating in Beaufort County without a license. The county is considering waiving fines to get them to comply, but Hairston said it should charge the fines to help pay for enforcement of her proposal.

If the county wants to regulate to whom landlords rent, it would have to establish a rental-license program, Hairston said.

All of these things would have to be fleshed out in committee before the full council would vote on the issue, Newton said.

"Given the void that's been created by the federal government's lack of response to the issue, and given the impacts that are becoming more and more apparent in communities, this is what is causing local governments to begin looking at these kinds of things," Newton said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Contact Ginny Skalski at 706-8144 or gskalski@islandpacket.com. To comment on this story, please go to islandpacket.com.

"Every year this gets worse and worse, and it's almost like we're rewarding bad behavior," she said

There is certainly no "almost" about it, it is rewarding bad behavior!

Sometimes I think because our Federal government won't lift a finger to stop this invasion, that small town local governments are so frustrated that they don't know what to do, other than TRY to find ways to accomodate these invaders.

Not to mention the fact, that with this countries history with racisim.. some law makers and politicians don't want to be seen as racists for being tough on these illegals.

Unfortunately, it's always at the Ameircan citizens expense.

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