Thread: Illegals to be banned from jobs in Milford restaurants

http://www.milforddailynews.com/localRe ... leid=91040

Illegals to be banned from jobs in Milford restaurants
By Andrew Lightman/ Daily News Staff
Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Updated: 12:47 AM EST

MILFORD -- In response to what the Board of Health sees as a growing health crisis, local restaurants may be banned from employing illegal immigrants as a condition of their food serving licenses.

The policy will go into effect this summer.

The board plans to notify restaurant owners and managers of the new policy in a letter to be mailed in June. According to a draft, the move comes in response to a growing concern "with the resurgence of some serious infectious diseases nationally and locally."

After reporting zero cases of tuberculosis in 2004, the Visiting Nurses Association of Milford last week reported treating seven individuals in fiscal 2005, and four more this fiscal year. Most of the local cases have been within the immigrant population, with people who come from areas where tuberculosis is more common, health officials have said.

Concerned the disease may spread in overcrowded homes and in restaurants, the Board of Health has made it a priority to stop it from spreading.

"Not that we’re trying to single out illegal immigrants," said board member Ken Evans. "It’s just that if they are illegal, they probably have not been screened (for infectious diseases)."

It is unclear whether an illegal immigrant would be able to provide medical records to prove he or she poses no health risk, but the new language in the town’s food service permits would seemingly exclude that possibility.

Food service permits, issued by the Board of Health, are set to expire June 30 and will be replaced with ones that effectively ban all illegal immigrants.

As drafted, the new permits will include the following phrase in red lettering, for added emphasis:

"As a condition of this license, with the interest of public health, the licensee shall not employ or allow to work on the licensed premises, any person not present in the United States in compliance with applicable law."

Town Counsel Gerald Moody said that clause is not targeted at illegal immigrants because they are illegal immigrants. Rather, he said it is because the board believes illegal immigrants who handle food pose a greater health risk to the general population.

"They first made a finding, I presume, that there is an increased risk of health problems with undocumented workers," Moody said. "I think what they’re saying is that restaurants that have illegal immigrants or undocumented workers have a greater risk of having health problems."

When health inspectors visit the restaurants, owners and managers will be required to show proof that each of their employees "are in full compliance with all applicable medical and health requirements that are mandated by the United States Government and the State of Massachusetts."

The final draft of the letter will also include a list of acceptable medical forms, including ones required for entry into the United States by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, said Public Health Director Paul Mazzuchelli.

Evans, who voted to implement the policy last October, agreed the board implemented the policy because it fears illegal immigrants could pass on a wide range of diseases to restaurant patrons.

"In a sense, I guess we’d be doing some profiling," Evans said. "I guess it’s politically incorrect. But we’re not interested in being politically correct. We’re just interested in the health of the community."

The board already suspects there are currently some illegal immigrants working in area restaurants, he said.

While on routine restaurant inspections, health inspectors will be empowered to request proof that these workers have been vaccinated and screened for infectious diseases.

However, native-born American citizens are less of a concern, he said, because they are less likely to be exposed to infectious diseases like tuberculosis, and more likely to vaccinated against other diseases.

"Legal residents would have all that checking done," Evans said. "If we know they’re citizens, native-born citizens in the United States, it isn’t a concern."



Andrew Lightman can be reached at 508-634-7583 or andrew.lightman@cnc.com.

ahhh...this is music to my ears.

It's about time! What about other business' that hire them?

Meat packing....food prep.....other restaurants...and even touching our veggies!!!

That's one way of getting the job done. This could spread to other communities.

People will be coming from far and wide to have dinner out in Milford.

Go health dept! However, I feel a lawsuit coming on.

Originally Posted by againstillegals

Go health dept! However, I feel a lawsuit coming on.

Probably, lets hope that the City of Milford has already thought of that and is prepared. If you sue because you can't use your illegal employees, isn't that and admission you hire them?

that means all these illegals will be 'migrating' to states and communities that are more welcoming

The big question is, who's going to enforce it?

http://www.milforddailynews.com/localRe ... leid=91117

Will immigrant restaurant rules hold up?
By Peter Reuell / Daily News Staff
Thursday, May 4, 2006

Two local communities are taking the immigration debate into the kitchen, hoping to bar illegal immigrants from working in the food service industry for fear of an increase in food-borne illnesses.

In recent days, officials at the Milford Board of Health passed regulations barring restaurants from hiring illegal immigrants. The new regulation will take effect this summer.

A similar proposal will come before Town Meeting in Framingham later this year.

But with immigration enforcement controlled at the federal level, critics question if the laws could be enforced at all.

The answer, experts say, depends on how the question is asked.

"As long as people are careful not to publicly talk about what their motive is, the rules are within the purview of the town," said Boston University law Professor Jack Beermann. "If it’s a health code issue having to do with immunizations and sanitation, then likely it would stand, even if it had a disproportionate effect on illegal immigrants.

"(But) one that explicitly mentions immigrants, they might have a legal problem with that one, because the local government doesn’t have any powers to do with immigration matters."

Whether illegal immigrants working in food service leads to higher rates of food-borne illness is a question health officials would have to determine, Framingham Town Counsel Christopher Petrini said.

"Assuming that is true, the question becomes whether it can be enforced by the Board of Health," he said.

In Massachusetts, he said, local boards of health have wide-reaching authority to protect public health. Such powers were among the key foundations for enforcing local smoking bans.

"It’s a central power of the Board of Health," he said.

Without that justification, though, the towns would be on shaky legal ground.

Even if such arguments can be made, Peter Christie, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said there is no clear way to ensure residents will not transmit food-borne illnesses.

"How do they know if someone born here has (been vaccinated)?" he asked. "This sounds to me like a little bit of hysteria thrown in and mixing issues up. The Department of Public Health does an excellent job relating to food and food safety."

Under state law, Christie said, if anyone, including illegal immigrants, is diagnosed with illness that could be transmitted through contact with food, the local board of health is notified, and the person is prohibited from handling food.

What’s more, he said, current state regulation requires employees who are even just sick to be removed from handling food.

"This is starting to go down a very slippery slope that can get people into trouble, frankly," he said. "I think they’re mixing apples and oranges, and they’re going to come up with a pretty nasty cider if they’re not careful."

The new Milford regulation does not target immigrants themselves, but the restaurants that hire them, Milford Town Counsel Gerald Moody said.

That distinction, he said, puts the town on solid legal footing.

"We’re not saying you can’t be present in Milford," he said. "But the Board of Health, having made a finding that there is a significant risk to public health by having undocumented workers in a restaurant, made this rule."

The new rule will be attached to the license granted to the restaurant, Moody said. In theory, if a restaurant violates the rule, its permit could be yanked by the town, putting it out of business.

"Any restaurant that’s in violation will be subject to sanctions under their license," he said. "For the ones that simply hire without checking, they’re going to have to check, and they’re going to have to comply."

(Peter Reuell can be reached at 508-626-4428 or at preuell@cnc.com.)