Thread: AL-Mobile County Comm. policy takes aim at illegal workers

Mobile County Commission policy takes aim at illegal workers
Friday, August 07, 2009
By RHODA A. PICKETT

The Mobile County Commission is set to vote Monday on a policy to penalize companies that hire illegal workers on county public works projects. Violators would be barred from bidding on such projects for two years.

Companies "providing more than $50,000 or more in labor, materials or supplies for a public works contract" would have to make employee records available for inspection and would be subject to random audits, according to the policy.

They would violate the policy if they had three or more illegal workers assigned to one or more of the contracts. Their subcontractors would also be required to have workers who are citizens or legal immigrants.

The policy would take effect Oct. 1.

Contractors could avoid running afoul of the policy by either:

Hiring workers through a local, state or federal work program, the state of Alabama Employment Service or a third-party employer that verifies Social Security numbers and the legal status of workers.

Making use of federal electronic verification of worker eligibility, also known as the E-Verify Program.

Union representatives and others have rallied several times locally to raise concerns about possible illegal workers involved in construction at the giant ThyssenKrupp steel plant in northern Mobile County.

"Several months ago, a coalition of contractors and builders came to the County Commission meeting and said that this was bigger than TK; it was an industry-wide problem," Commissioner Merceria Ludgood said following Thursday's conference meeting of the commission.

Ludgood proposed the new policy.

"We can't control what a private company does, but we do have the authority to do what we can to address the problems raised to us by industry." Ludgood said.

"This is to make sure that if you do a contract with the Mobile County Commission, you hire legal folks," County Commission President Mike Dean said.


http://www.al.com/news/press-register/m ... xml&coll=3

Hiring workers through a local, state or federal work program, the state of Alabama Employment Service or a third-party employer that verifies Social Security numbers and the legal status of workers.

Loophole is the States are allowing Employment Security Commission (unemployment) Offices NOT to E-Verify or use SAVE ID's of immigrants that they are sending into our local workplaces.

Who does ICE arrest on the abuse of Immigration Laws? The States?